IRLF 


B    3    125    7MS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Class 


American  a$en  of  ficttcrg 

WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 


american  a?en  of 


WILLIAM  HICKLING 
PRESCOTT 


BY 


ROLLO  OGDEN 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

(Cbc  fitoerjjibe  priW,  €ambriD0e 
1904 


COPYRIGHT   1904    BY   ROLLO  OGDEN 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  April  1004 


To  S.  M.  O. 
"  Where  the  heart  lies,  let  the  brain  lie  also." 


213369 


PREFACE 

THIS  volume  makes  no  pretense  of  supplanting 
Ticknor's  "  Life  of  Prescott."  It  aims  simply 
to  supplement  it.  Ticknor  wrote  the  biogra 
phy  of  his  lifelong  friend,  possessed  of  ample 
materials ;  but  he  was  already  an  old  man ; 
his  view  of  society  and  literature,  always  se 
vere,  had  deepened  into  something  like  auster 
ity  ;  and  to  bring  out  vividly  the  playful  and 
engagingly  human  aspects  of  Prescott's  charac 
ter  would  doubtless  have  seemed  to  him  like 
taking  liberties  with  the  Muse  of  History.  To 
complete  and  correct  the  picture  of  Prescott's 
personality,  while  giving  a  condensed  but  con 
nected  account  of  his  life  and  work,  has  been 
the  sole  task  undertaken  by  the  present  writer. 
Use  has  been  made  of  significant  matter  re 
jected  by  Ticknor,  or  unknown  to  him,  though 
his  work  has  also  been  drawn  upon  occasion- 


viii  '^PREFACE 

ally.  The  author,  could  have  had  no  hope  of 
success  but  for  the  kindness  with  which  the 
Prescott  papers  were  put  at  his  disposal  by 
Mrs.  Roger  Wolcott  and  Linzee  Prescott, 
Esq.,  the  historian's  grandchildren.  To  them 
his  warmest  acknowledgments  are  due. 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  THE  CROSSED  SWORDS 1 

II.  SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 16 

HI.  "  LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE  "  .        .        .        .23 

IV.  THE  INWARD  EYE 38 

V.  PREPARATION 48 

VI.  BEGINNINGS 59 

VII.  THE  QUEST  OF  A  THEME        ....    73 
VIII.  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA  ....        84 

IX.  AWAKING  FAMOUS 99 

X.  THE  MAN  OF  LETTERS        ....      114 

XI.  THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO     .        .        .        .130 

XII.  THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU     ....      152 

XIII.  THE  ENGLISH  VISIT 160 

XIV.  PERSONAL  TRAITS 172 

XV.  POLITICAL  SYMPATHIES 197 

XVI.  PHILIP  II 208 

XVII.  THE  UNFINISHED  WINDOW      .        .        .        .229 
INDEX    .  235 


WILLIAM  HICKLING 
PKESCOTT 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  CROSSED   SWORDS 

THACKERAY  brought  the  Prescott  pedigree 
into  the  high  relief  of  a  work  of  imagina 
tion.  His  allusion  in  "  The  Virginians  "  to 
the  "  crossed  swords  on  the  library  wall  of  one 
of  the  most  famous  writers  of  America"  pleased 
the  historian.  Mrs.  Ritchie  has  printed  his 
note  of  acknowledgment :  "  It  was  very  pret 
tily  done,  and  I  take  it  very  kind  of  you." 
This  was  in  1857.  When  Prescott  was  in  Eng 
land  in  1850,  it  appears  from  his  letters  home 
that  he,  like  many  another  man,  had  been  "  not 
much  impressed  by  Thackeray"  in  general 
society.  But  in  this  country  they  were  drawn  to 
each  other.  Even  had  they  not  been,  Prescott 


2          WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

could  not  have  failed  to  be  touched  by  the 
"compliment  to  my  two  swords  of  Bunker's 
Hill  memory,  and  their  unworthy  proprietor," 
since  he  always  felt,  as  he  wrote  to  Griswold  in 
1845,  that  he  had  a  "  right  to  take  an  honest 
pride,  or  at  least  satisfaction,  in  my  descent." 
The  official  genealogist  of  the  family  is  Wil 
liam  Prescott,  of  Concord,  K  H.,  who  pub 
lished  the  "Prescott  Memorial"  in  1870. 
There  were  "  two  separate  and  distinct  emi 
grants  by  the  name  of  Prescott."  John  Pres 
cott  reached  Boston  and  Water  town  in  1640, 
and  James  Prescott  was  "first  heard  of  at 
Hampton,  N.  H.,  in  1665."  Both  these  Pres- 
cotts  are  traced  back  to  "  James  Prescott  of 
Standish,  in  Lancashire,  England,  who  was  re 
quired  by  an  order  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  dated 
August,  1564,  to  keep  in  readiness  horse 
men  and  armor."  It  must  be  said,  however, 
that  this  English  connection  is  not  made  out 
by  evidence  satisfactory  to  the  severe  methods 
of  later  genealogists.  Reviewing  the  "  Prescott 
Memorial"  in  the  "American  Genealogist," 
the  late  Mr.  W.  H.  Whitmore  wrote :  "  Our 
objection  is  to  the  English  part  of  the  pedi- 


THE  CROSSED  SWORDS  3 

gree.  .  .  .  Not  a  single  proof  is  given."  In 
deed,  the  "  Memorial "  abounds  in  simplici 
ties  like  the  following :  "  Although  we  are  not 
able  to  trace  the  direct  lineage  of  the  Pres- 
cotts  that  came  to  America  farther  back  than 
the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  yet  it  is  well 
known  that  Prescott  was  known  as  an  ancient 
family  in  the  town  of  Prescott  in  the  county 
of  Lancaster."  Nobility  in  the  ancestry  is 
even  hinted  at,  and  a  coat  of  arms  is  given. 
But  on  all  this,  two  youthful  letters  of  the 
historian's  throw  a  somewhat  amusing  light. 
Writing  to  his  parents  from  St.  Michael's, 
March  15,  1816,  he  said:  — 

"  I  intend  to  have  the  family  arms  engraven 
in  London.  I  wish  you  would  send  me  a  fac 
simile  of  them,  which  may  be  easily  obtained 
from  Dr.  P.,  for  I  am  acquainted  only  with 
the  crest ;  and  as  people  of  the  same  name  of 
ten  have  the  same  crest,  but  different  bearings, 
I  might  confound  my  genealogical  tree  with 
some  other,  which  would  be  a  great  pity,  as  I 
should  wish  to  ascertain 

1  if  our  blood, 
Has  crept  through  scoundrels,  ever  since  the  flood,' 


4          WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

or  if  it  has  not  flowed  through  some  more  illus 
trious  channels.  There  is  something  extremely 
ominous  in  the  crest,  which  you  know  is  the 
bird  of  night." 

On  June  7  of  the  same  year,  however,  Pres- 
cott  wrote  from  London  :  — 

"  I  have  been  to  the  Herald's  Office,  and,  to 
my  utter  consternation,  they  tell  me  there  is  no 
such  crest  as  an  owl  in  their  books,  although 
there  is  a  Sir  John  or  Sir  Alex,  or  some  other 
baroneted  Prescott  now  extant  in  London.  I 
begin  to  be  seriously  afraid  we  have  not  the 
least  blood  royal  in  us." 

Though  thus  left  hanging,  the  English  deri 
vation  is  undoubted.  It  was  tacitly  assumed 
by  Captain  Henry  Prescott,  R.  N.,  Governor 
of  Newfoundland,  who  on  February  25,  1840, 
wrote  to  Prescott  to  say  that  he  congratulated 
himself  upon  seeing  his  family  name  raised  to 
literary  distinction  by  the  historian,  and  sur 
mised  that  he  might  trace  his  own  ancestry  to 
a  common  stock  with  Prescott's  "  in  no  very 
distant  past." 

Even  once  safely  in  New  England,  a  mythic 
element  seems  to  attach  to  the  Prescott  an- 


THE  CROSSED  SWORDS  5 

nals.  Wondrous  tales  are  told  of  the  emigrant 
John.  Established  on  the  frontier  in  Lancas 
ter,  he  fought  the  Indians  in  a  full  coat  of 
mail-armor,  —  helmet,  cuirass,  and  gorget,  — 
and  "  struck  terror  to  the  savage  foe  by  an  ap 
pearance  more  frightful  than  their  own."  Pi 
quant  tradition  of  his  extraordinary  personal 
prowess  has  been  handed  down  in  the  Prescott 
family.  He  was  one  of  those  "  soldier  ances 
tors  "  to  whom  Governor  Roger  Wolcott  re 
ferred  in  his  privately  printed  "  Brief  Sketch  " 
of  Prescott,  as  helping  to  determine  the  histo 
rian's  character  and  possibly  his  themes.  Cer 
tainly  it  is  no  abrupt  transition  from  the  ad 
venturous  Cromwellian  Indian  fighter,  John 
Prescott  of  Lancaster,  to  Hernan  Cortes  and 
his  Aztec  antagonists. 

The  line  of  descent  is  through  Jonas  Pres 
cott,  son  of  the  first  emigrant,  1648-1723. 
He  lived  in  Groton.  From  him  sprang  Ben 
jamin,  who  rose  to  be  colonel  of  militia  for  his 
county,  as  also  for  the  adjoining  county  of 
Worcester,  and  who,  as  a  member  of  the  Gen 
eral  Court  of  the  Colony,  appeared  before  a 
royal  commission  in  behalf  of  the  territorial 


6          WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

rights  of  Massachusetts  as  against  New  Hamp 
shire  in  1737.  He  died  the  next  year  at  the  age 
of  forty-one,  —  prematurely,  for  a  long-li ved 
stock.  Second  of  his  sons,  and  grandfather  of  the 
historian,  was  that  William  Prescott  —  Pres- 
cott  the  Brave,  Washington  called  him  —  whose 
name  blazed  up  in  glory  at  Bunker  Hill.  Born 
in  1726,  he  pushed  out  before  he  was  of  age 
into  what  was  then  the  wilds  of  upper  Middle 
sex,  and  acquired  lands  in  the  township  of 
Pepperell,  as  it  came  later  to  be  named,  after 
the  captor  of  Louisburg.  Hence  the  estate  so 
loved  of  the  historian,  still  held  in  the  family 
under  the  original  Indian  title.  Colonel  Prescott 
lived,  like  too  many  soldiers,  in  a  more  lavish 
style  than  his  means  admitted,  so  that  his  only 
child  William,  born  August  19,  1762,  had 
early  to  set  about  making  his  own  way  in  the 
world.  After  three  years  at  Dummer  Acad 
emy  he  entered  Harvard,  where  he  gradu 
ated  in  1783,  and  then  supported  himself  by 
teaching  at  Beverly  while  studying  law  under 
Nathan  Dane,  who  afterwards  founded  the  law 
professorship  at  Cambridge.  Admitted  to  the 
bar  in  1787,  he  practiced  his  profession  for 


THE  CROSSED  SWORDS  7 

two  years  in  Beverly,  but  removed  to  Salem 
in  1789,  where  he  lived  tiU  1808.  In  that 
year  he  made  his  home  in  Boston.  Industri 
ous  and  able,  he  rose  steadily  until  it  could  be 
said  of  him,  as  Webster  did  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  that  "  at  the  moment  of  his  retirement 
from  the  bar  of  Massachusetts  he  stood  at  its 
head  for  legal  learning  and  attainments." 

Political  honors  were  his  for  the  taking,  but 
nearly  all  of  them  he  put  aside.  He  sat  in 
the  Legislature  as  representative  of  Salem, 
and  also  as  senator  from  the  county  of  Essex ; 
was  a  delegate  to  the  famous  Hartford  Con 
vention  in  1814,  and  a  useful  member  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  Massachusetts  in 
1820-21  ;  for  a  year  (1818-19)  served  as 
Judge  of  the  Common  Pleas  in  Boston,  though 
twice  he  refused  an  offered  appointment  to  the 
bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State. 
Highly  successful  as  a  lawyer,  he  early  paid 
off  his  father's  debts  and  cleared  the  family 
property  from  all  encumbrances,  supporting  his 
widowed  mother  (Abigail  Hale)  at  Pepperell 
until  her  death  at  a  great  age  in  1821.  The 
fortune  which  Judge  Prescott  accumulated  was 


8          WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

freely  put  at  his  son's  disposal,  and  without 
it  the  historian's  work  would  have  been  im 
possible.  Between  the  two  there  was  always  a 
peculiarly  close  intimacy.  Shortly  after  his 
father  died,  December  8, 1844,  Prescott  wrote 
to  a  friend  a  long  letter  in  which  he  gave  a 
sketch  of  Judge  Prescott' s  life  and  a  penetrat 
ing  while  tender  appreciation  of  his  character. 
A  part  of  this  is  worth  quoting  for  its  inherent 
interest,  as  well  as  for  its  significance  hi  point 
of  heredity. 

"  The  great  characteristic  of  his  moral  na 
ture  was  integrity.  The  least  departure  from 
truth  was  a  thing  he  would  have  shrunk  from, 
as  tainting  the  soul.  He  had  all  the  moral 
courage  which  is  demanded  for  seeking  out  the 
right  and  steadily  pursuing  it.  Yet  he  did  not 
do  this  so  as  to  make  virtue  unamiable.  For 
he  pursued  his  measures  in  a  gentle  concilia 
tory  way  that  sought  to  spare  the  feelings  of 
others,  and  to  make  the  most  liberal  allowances 
for  the  infirmities  of  human  nature.  He  was, 
indeed,  severe  to  no  one  but  himself  in  his 
judgments. 

"  His  tastes  were  intellectual  to  a  most  ex- 


THE  CROSSED  SWORDS  9 

traordinary  degree.  Books  were  the  friends 
that  furnished  him  with  an  inexhaustible  fund 
of  contentment.  After  his  retirement  from 
business,  —  a  business  which  had  occupied  as 
many  hours  of  every  day,  probably,  for  more 
than  forty  years,  as  ever  engaged  any  practi 
tioner  at  our  bar,  —  he  found  abundant  re 
sources  in  his  own  library.  This  is  rare.  He 
would  pursue  systematic  courses  of  reading 
and  study,  taking  copious  notes  on  such  great 
questions  in  politics  or  morals  as  most  inter 
ested  him.  And  in  these  studies,  that  of  theo 
logy  had  a  conspicuous  place,  —  theology  in  its 
most  extended  sense.  He  was  particularly  fond 
of  history,  and  regularly  provided  himself  with 
all  the  best  publications,  historical  and  bio 
graphical,  from  the  English  press,  as  well  as 
our  own.  It  was  a  sufficient  relief  to  him  to 
pass  from  the  study  of  one  subject  to  another. 
In  lighter  reading,  as  works  of  fiction,  particu 
larly  in  those  directed  to  the  analysis  of  char 
acter,  he  took  great  delight.  But  especially 
when  that  pleasure  could  be  shared  with  the 
domestic  circle.  How  constant  a  companion 
for  many  years  was  the  evening  novel,  —  the 


10        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

novels  of  Scott,  Miss  Edgeworth,  and  the  like, 
—  if  there  are  the  like. 

"  The  great  charm  of  his  character  consisted 
in  his  sympathy  for  all  around  him,  —  his  fam 
ily,  his  friends.  Their  joys  and  their  sorrows 
were  part  of  his.  For  the  young  he  kept  up 
this  sympathy  in  his  latest  years,  and  especially 
for  those  who  manifested  anything  excellent, 
or  promising  to  become  so,  in  their  moral  or 
mental  character.  As  he  had  great  sagacity, 
extensive  learning,  high  principle,  chivalrous 
honor,  love  of  truth,  reverence  for  the  Deity 
most  unaffected  and  remarkable,  he  had  the 
qualities  which  command  reverence  without 
forfeiting  love.  There  are  some  whom  we  ven 
erate  for  high  talents  or  principles,  who  have 
not  the  attractions  that  secure  our  affections. 
But  none  approached  him  —  however  inti 
mately  —  without  mingled  feelings  of  rever 
ence  and  love.  How  much  and  tenderly  he 
was  beloved  can  be  known  only  to  those  who 
have  seen  him  round  his  own  hearth.  If  the 
world  were  made  of  such  noble  natures,  what 
a  world  would  it  be  !  " 

In  Pierce's  "  Life  of  Sumner  "  there  is  re- 


THE  CROSSED  SWORDS  11 

cord  of  a  conversation  at  dinner  where  were 
present,  among  others,  Webster,  Sumner, 
Ticknor,  and  Prescott.  The  subject  of  dis 
cussion  was  the  question  what  most  powerfully 
shaped  men's  characters  and  activities.  Some 
said  one  thing,  some  another.  "  Mr.  Prescott 
declared  that  a  mother's  influence  was  the 
most  potent,  and  paid  an  eloquent  tribute  to 
the  female  sex  in  this  relation."  It  was,  doubt 
less,  personal  experience  that  spoke,  for  he  had 
a  remarkable  mother.  It  was  directly  to  her, 
Governor  Wolcott  thought,  that  he  owed  his 
"  unfailing  spirits."  On  the  day  she  died,  he 
spoke  of  her  to  Ticknor  as  an  influence  that 
had  been  "  a  guiding  impulse  "  to  him.  Born 
Catherine  Greene  Hickling,  she  married  the 
young  lawyer  of  Salem,  William  Prescott,  in 
1793.  The  union  was  unbroken  for  fifty-one 
years,  and  she  survived  her  husband  eight 
years,  dying  at  eighty-four  in  1852.  Her  life 
was  uneventful,  though  for  many  years  she 
took  an  active  part  in  the  public  charities  of 
Boston  ;  but,  as  her  son  wrote,  it  was  her 
character  that  excited  interest.  Again  we  have 
the  advantage  of  a  picture  of  her  beautiful 


12         WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

nature  by  his  own  pen.  A  few  days  after  her 
death,  which  as  Ticknor  says  was  mourned  in 
Boston  as  a  "  public  loss,"  Prescott  gave  to  a 
friend  an  estimate  of  his  mother.  It  reads,  in 
part,  as  follows  :  — 

"  My  mother  had  a  warm  and  sympathetic 
nature,  a  heart  full  of  love,  a  hand  open  to 
charity.  And  her  charity  was  not  limited 
to  the  purse.  It  showed  itself  in  a  great  in 
dulgence  to  the  frailties  of  others,  as  well  as  in 
sorrow  for  their  distresses.  She  had,  indeed, 
a  generous  nature,  wishing  ever  to  do  good 
and  to  make  those  around  her  better. 

"  Her  predominant  trait  was  disinterested 
ness,  as  you  well  know,  to  an  extent  that,  I 
think,  you  have  rarely  seen  in  any  one.  It  was 
a  perpetual  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  yet  so  sweetly 
made  that  it  seemed  no  sacrifice,  but  a  plea 
sure  to  herself.  Her  talk,  her  actions,  and  her 
thoughts,  evidently,  were  all  occupied  with  the 
good,  or  hi  some  way  the  happiness  of  others. 
Her  physical  strength  was  great,  and  she  used 
it  indefatigably  in  works  of  benevolence  and 
mercy,  —  visiting  the  sick,  comforting  the  dy 
ing,  —  and  with  all  this  possessing  a  fund  of 


THE  CROSSED  SWORDS  13 

good  sense  and  good  humor  which  made  her 
enter  cordially  into  the  innocent  gayeties  of 
life.  Her  Christianity  was  not  of  the  morose 
kind,  and  though  she  wept  with  those  that 
weep,  she  entered  as  warmly  into  the  joys  of 
her  fellow  creatures. 

"  Though  her  reading  in  early  life  had  been 
left  much  to  her  own  direction,  she  had  read 
a  great  deal  more  than  was  usual  at  her  day  ; 
and  the  Shakespeare  which  she  had  when  a  girl, 
still  in  the  bookcase  at  Pepperell,  bears  testi 
mony  on  every  page  to  her  accurate  perusal. 
It  is  the  same  with  others  of  the  old  English 
writers,  and  through  life,  and  to  the  last  day 
of  it,  the  love  of  reading  and  writing  has  been 
a  chief  solace  of  her  hours  when  alone.  One 
book  was  her  study  by  day  and  by  night,  — 
the  Scriptures.  This  was  visible  to  those  ad 
mitted  to  her  privacy,  for  her  piety  was  not 
of  that  ostentatious  kind  which  commends 
itself  to  the  notice  of  the  world. 

"  She  had  great  energy  ;  and  in  the  man 
agement  of  affairs  she  was  very  efficient.  She 
showed  this  particularly  in  the  straitened  cir 
cumstances  of  early  life.  She  was,  however, 


14        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

exempt  from  the  obstinacy  and  the  conceit 
which  sometimes  attaches  to  that  class  of  char 
acters  whose  success  in  action  leads  them  to 
an  overestimate  of  their  own  abilities.  She 
was  as  free  from  vanity  as  from  envy.  Indeed, 
such  feelings  could  not  harbor  in  a  heart  so 
disinterested. 

"  She  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  connected 
with  a  partner  in  life  of  a  character  admirably 
suited  to  her  own,  though  little  resembling  it. 
They  had  some  great  points  of  resemblance, 
in  their  excellent  understandings,  soundness 
of  principle,  mild  spirit  of  toleration,  and  gen 
erous  regard  for  the  welfare  of  others.  How 
could  such  a  union  be  otherwise  than  happy. 
After  being  thus  united  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  she  was  left  to  go  on  her  pilgrimage 
alone.  Yet  not  alone,  for  she  was  surrounded 
by  troops  of  friends,  the  poor  as  well  as  the 
rich,  whom  her  virtues  and  her  deeds  of  kind 
ness  had  made  for  her.  She  had  children,  too, 
who  cherished  her,  and  who  strove,  while  they 
could,  to  '  keep  one  parent  from  the  sky.'  —  All 
this  is  past ;  and  the  beautiful  remembrance 
of  her  good  deeds  alone  remains  to  us.  She 


THE  CROSSED  SWORDS  15 

had  errors,  no  doubt,  —  though  I  have  not 
been  long  enough  with  her  to  find  them  out. 
If  they  are  recorded  above,  sure  I  am  they 
were  not  so  numerous  but  that  the  recording 
angel  will  blot  them  out  with  a  single  tear  !  " 

Seven  children  were  born  to  Judge  and 
Mrs.  Prescott,  but  four  of  them  died  in  in 
fancy.  Two  sons  and  a  daughter  attained 
maturity.  Of  these  the  eldest  was  William 
Hickling  Prescott,  who  was  born  at  Salem, 
May  4,  1796. 


CHAPTER  II 
SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE 

"  I  AM  the  only  classmate  of  Mr.  Prescott  now 
present,"  said  President  Walker  of  Harvard, 
at  the  memorial  meeting  in  honor  of  Prescott 
held  by  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society 
on  February  1,  1859.  "My  recollections  of 
him  go  back  to  our  college  days,  when  he 
stood  among  us  one  of  the  most  joyous  and 
light-hearted,  in  classic  learning  one  of  the 
most  accomplished,  without  any  enemies,  with 
nothing  but  friends."  This  characterization 
is  borne  out  by  all  the  contemporary  testi 
mony  now  accessible.  Ticknor  got  various 
accounts  from  intimates  of  the  Prescott  home 
in  Salem,  and  all  agree  that  the  boy  William 
had  all  of  his  mother's  bright  vivacity  and 
his  father's  amiability.  He  was  first  taught  at 
his  mother's  knee.  Next  we  find  him  under, 
not  a  schoolmistress,  but  a  school-mother,  as 
she  preferred  to  call  herself,  —  that  New  Eng- 


SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  17 

land  gentlewoman,  Miss  Mehitable  Higginson, 
whose  school  for  the  very  young  was  patron 
ized  by  the  best  families  of  Salem.  At  seven 
he  was  placed  in  "  Master  Knapp's  "  school, 
where  he  remained  till  his  father's  removal  to 
Boston  in  1808.  All  the  traditions  of  his  boy 
hood,  which  Ticknor  piously  gathered,  make 
him  out  a  merry  lad,  fonder  of  play  than  study, 
though  with  an  inquisitive  mind  and  ready 
memory  which  made  it  easy  for  him  to  learn. 
Prescott  himself  said  that  he  could  recall  no 
period  of  his  childhood  when  he  did  not  love 
books ;  his  reading  being  mainly  of  stories  and 
romances  which  used  to  quicken  his  imagina 
tion  so  powerfully  that  he  would  cling  to  his 
mother  and  follow  her  about  the  house  rather 
than  be  left  alone  with  the  creatures  of  his 
fancy.  A  sermon  of  Dr.  Channing's  to  chil 
dren  spared  the  rod.  "  Mother,  if  I  am  ever 
a  bad  boy  again,  won't  you  set  me  to  reading 
that  sermon  ?  " 

In  Boston,  Prescott  was  in  the  half-school, 
half -home,  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Gardiner,  rector  of 
Trinity  Church.  In  the  library  of  that  excel 
lent  scholar,  a  dozen  boys  got  a  thorough 


18        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

grounding  in  the  classics.  There,  too,  began 
the  lifelong  friendship  between  Ticknor  and 
Prescott,  as  also  that  intimacy  between  the 
historian  and  a  son  of  his  teacher,  which  was 
remarkably  close  and  never  broken.  Prescott 
was  fitting  for  Harvard,  and  confined  himself 
to  the  purely  required  studies.  A  boy  to-day 
coaching  for  his  finals  could  not  more  definitely 
regard  that  time  wasted  which  was  spent  upon 
unnecessary  text-books.  Yet  there  is  evidence 
of  some  outside  reading.  The  Boston  Athe 
naeum  was  then  in  its  beginnings,  and,  in  that 
day  of  book  famine  in  New  England,  furnished 
stores  inaccessible  otherwise.  John  Quincy 
Adams,  off  for  Eussia,  deposited  his  library  of 
several  thousand  volumes  in  the  Athenaeum ; 
and  it  was  particularly  among  them  that  Pres 
cott,  through  the  favor  of  one  of  the  proprie 
tors,  spent  many  hours  of  aimless  reading. 
From  it  he  carried  away  little  except,  as  he  ac 
knowledged  forty  years  later,  a  firm  conviction 
that  there  were  such  things  as  books,  with 
some  faint  dawnings  of  literary  taste.  But 
there  are  no  records  of  precocity  —  no  vision 
splendid.  The  boy  was  but  such  as  his  fellows, 


SCHOOL  AND   COLLEGE  19 

—  a  trifle  gayer  by  nature,  perhaps,  but  mainly 
just  the  playful,  prankish,  "  apple-eating  ani 
mal  "  that  we  expect  the  normal  male  of 
twelve  or  fourteen  to  be.  He  entered  Sopho 
more  at  Harvard  in  August,  1811.  "It  is  j 
certain,"  wrote  Hillard  in  1864,  that  Prescott 
"  in  later  life  did  not  look  back  upon  his 
college  career  with  unmingled  satisfaction." 
There  was  nothing  discreditable  about  it.  It 
was  simply  not  distinguished.  The  bright  and 
sociable  boy  of  sixteen  did  not  at  once  be 
come  a  mighty  student.  He  himself,  in  those 
autobiographical  notes  which  he  sent  to 
K.  W.  Griswoldin  1845,  and  which  the  latter 
printed  with  some  amusing  variations  in  the 
"  Prose  Writers  of  America,"  said  that  at 
Harvard  he  "  gave  little  attention  to  the  math 
ematics  and  the  sister  sciences."  However,  "  I 
employed  my  leisure  in  the  study  of  my  favor 
ite  authors.  It  was  a  matter  of  taste  with  me, 
but  considering  my  subsequent  occupations  I 
have  not  found  reason  to  regret  it."  On  this 
college  reading  a  ray  of  light  is  shed  by  the 
records  of  the  Harvard  Library.  Prescott 
would  appear  to  have  drawn  books  only  in  his 


c.  r  ~  H  E 


20        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Junior  year.  A  list  of  the  volumes  charged  to 
"  Prescott  2nd  "  —  there  was  an  Aaron  Pres- 
cott  in  his  class  —  between  February  26  and 
August  14,  1813,  extends  to  but  nine  entries. 
He  may  have  had  books  elsewhere,  but  these 
were  all  from  the  library.  They  cover  "  Con- 
dillac,  Tom.  8,  CEuvres  de  Voltaire,  Tom.  5, 
Eollin's  Ancient  History,  vol.  1  &2,  Wollaston 
Eel.  Nat.  andMitford's  Greece,  vol.  1."  In  ad 
dition,  and  most  notable  by  way  of  unconscious 
prophecy,  was  Watson's  "  Philip  II,"  of  which 
all  three  volumes  were  taken  out  on  June  4, 
while  on  July  9,  vols.  1  and  2  of  the  same  writ 
er's  Philip  III  were  charged.  Fourteen  years 
later,  when  pursuing  his  elaborate  historical 
studies,  Prescott  again  took  up  Watson,  and, 
without  a  hint  that  he  had  ever  turned  the 
pages  of  that  author  before,  set  down  in  his 
private  notes  the  critical  opinion,  "  a  meagre, 
unphilosophical  chronicler  of  the  richest  period 
of  Spanish  history."  This  was  sufficiently  in 
accord  with  Richard  Ford's  judgment,  who,  in 
1842,  urged  Prescott  to  write  the  life  of  Philip 
II,  saying  that  it  was  "  an  almost  virgin  sub 
ject,"  since  "  the  poor  performance  of  Watson 


SCHOOL  AND  COLLEGE  21 

is  beneath  notice  ; "  and  in  1855  wrote,  "  You 
have  given  us  so  much  new  and  real  history. 
Verily  you  are  the  most  good-natured  of  men 
to  praise  that  poor  creature  Watson  whose 
nonsense  you  have  extinguished." 

Prescott's  rank  in  college  may  fairly  be 
inferred  from  his  having  been  elected  a 
member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  —  an  honor 
much  valued  by  him  —  and  assigned  to  re 
cite  an  original  Latin  poem,  "  Ad  Spem,"  at 
Commencement.  Bancroft's  memory  made  it, 
in  his  address  on  Prescott  before  the  New 
York  Historical  Society  in  1859,  "  a  Latin 
ode  that  he  had  written  to  Spring ; "  at  any 
rate,  he  accurately  recalled  first  seeing  Pres 
cott  in  Cambridge  at  the  latter's  graduation 
in  1814.  Commencement  was  a  high  day  in 
those  years,  and  the  old  meeting-house  was 
crowded  with  well-known  people  from  Boston. 
After  the  literary  exercises,  the  graduates  en 
tertained  their  friends.  The  Prescotts  spread 
a  dinner  for  five  hundred  in  a  tent.  No 
plainer  proof  of  family  pride  in  the  son  could 
be  given.  When  the  son's  son  graduated  a 
generation  later,  Prescott  wrote  in  his  journal : 


22        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

September  1, 1844.  "  Attended  Commence 
ment  last  Wednesday  when  Will  took  his 
degree.  ...  It  is  just  30  years  since  I 
quitted  Alma  Mater.  ...  It  is  worth  remem 
bering  that  Will  occupied  the  same  room  in 
old  Hollis  which  I  occupied  30  years  ago, 
and  which  his  grandfather  occupied  about 
30  years  before  me ;  three  William  Prescotts 
in  three  generations,  and  all  alive  to  meet 
together  in  the  same  scene  of  boyish  recollec 
tions."  This  family  room  at  Harvard  has  been 
identified  for  me  as  "  Hollis  11." 


CHAPTER  in 

«LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE" 

THE  "  leading  and  controlling  event "  of  Pres- 
cott's  life  was  justly  said  by  Hillard  to  be  the 
accident  which  deprived  him  of  sight  in  one 
eye,  and  which  was  soon  followed  by  such  an 
impairment  of  the  vision  of  the  other  as  to 
make  his  popular  title,  "the  blind  historian," 
no  wide  misnomer. 

It  was  a  student  prank  that  destroyed  his 
left  eye.  Leaving  the  table  at  commons  one 
day  in  his  Junior  year,  Prescott  turned  sharply 
to  see  what  particular  piece  of  skylarking  the 
noise  behind  him  indicated,  and  was  caught 
full  in  the  open  eye  by  a  crust  of  bread  thrown 
after  him  with  none  but  rollicking  intent.  The 
blow  was  a  fearful  one  in  its  nervous  effects, 
striking  Prescott  down  as  by  a  rifle  bullet. 
No  external  mark,  then  or  later,  was  left  on 
the  eye,  but  it  was  made  instantly  and  incura 
bly  sightless.  The  oculists  of  the  day  called  it 


24        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

a  paralysis  of  the  retina.  The  patient  soon 
recovered  tone  and  spirits,  and  went  back  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  the  learned  with  one 
eye,  and  did  it  gayly  and  triumphantly,  as  has 
been  seen.  Immediately  after  graduation,  he 
began  reading  law  in  his  father's  office,  and 
looked  forward  confidently  to  a  career  at  the 
bar.  But  early  in  1815  the  shadow  deepened 
upon  him.  He  was  seized  with  an  obscure  in 
flammation  in  the  right  eye.  Its  diagnosis  long 
baffled  the  physicians,  who  only  later  deter 
mined  it  to  be  a  case  of  acute  rheumatism.  For 
months  he  was  entirely  blind,  and  never  again 
was  he  able  to  use  the  eye  except  with  extreme 
caution,  and  for  but  short  periods  at  a  time. 
Intervals  of  complete  blindness  fell  upon  him 
with  the  frequent  recurrence  of  his  disease,  — 
which  often  attacked  him  painfully  in  other 
parts  of  the  body  also,  —  and  the  fear  of  los 
ing  even  the  feeble  and  precarious  sight  re 
maining  to  him  never  left  him  as  long  as  he 
lived. 

The  tradition  of  Prescott's  total  blindness 
was  strengthened  by  the  "Edinburgh  Beview." 
In  its  notice  of  the  "  Conquest  of  Mexico "  it 


"LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE"  25 

spoke  of  the  writer  as  having  "  been  blind  sev 
eral  years."  "  The  next  thing,"  wrote  Prescott 
in  his  journal,  "  I  shall  hear  of  a  subscription 
set  on  foot  for  the  blind  Yankee  author.  But 
I  have  written  to  the  editor,  Napier,  to  set  it 
right,  if  he  thinks  it  worth  while."  "  I  can't  say 
I  like  to  be  called  blind,"  he  wrote  to  Colonel 
Aspinwall,  at  about  the  same  date  (May,  1845). 
"  I  have,  it  is  true,  but  one  eye ;  but  that  has 
done  me  some  service,  and,  with  fair  usage, 
will,  I  trust,  do  me  some  more.  I  have  been 
so  troubled  with  inflammations  that  I  have  not 
been  able  to  use  it  for  months,  and  twice  for 
several  years  together."  The  "  Edinburgh  "  duly 
inserted  a  correction,  but  many  went  on  be 
lieving  that  Prescott  was,  as  he  humorously 
protested  that  he  was  not,  "  high-gravel  blind." 
Edward  Everett  wrote  him  from  London,  June 
2,  1845  :  - 

"  I  noticed  the  note  in  the  '  Edinburgh  Ke- 
view  >  about  your  blindness,  and  I  continually 
hear  and  as  often  contradict  the  same  state 
ment  in  conversation,  but  I  do  not  always  com 
mand  belief.  Sir  John  Hobhouse  lasl  Saturday 
evening  insisted  upon  it  you  were  as  blind  as  a 


26        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

mole,  and,  being  a  quiet  man,  I  was  obliged  to 
let  him  have  his  own  way." 

Maria  Edgeworth  sighed  over  the  "  poor 
man,"  on  the  supposition  that  he  was  blind. 

Oculists  assured  him  that  his  eye  would  be 
adequate  to  all  the  ordinary  purposes  of  life,  if 
he  would  give  up  his  literary  labors.  But  Pres- 
cott  quietly  refused  to  pay  the  price.  Holding 
himself  to  the  strictest  regimen,  using  every 
precaution  that  his  own  experience  or  the  skill 
of  physicians  might  suggest,  he  yet  preferred 
the  joys  of  his  intellectual  pursuits  to  the  cer 
tainty  of  eyesight.  Again  and  again  we  find 
him  in  his  journals  calmly  contemplating  the 
possibility  of  absolute  blindness.  Even  then 
there  was  no  regret  or  slackened  resolution ; 
only  a  weighing  of  the  possibility  of  his  being 
able  to  press  on  with  his  work  when  wholly 
dependent  upon  the  eyes  of  others.  So  long 
as  hearing  remained  to  him  he  would  not  lose 
heart.  "  The  obstacles,"  he  wrote  in  his  jour 
nal  for  October  4,  1830,  "  I  do  not  believe  to 
be  insuperable,  unless  I  become  deaf  as  well  as 
blind.  ...  I  can  always  (by  hearing  even) 
prepare  and  write  twenty-five  printed  pages  in 


«L£  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE"  27 

a  month."  This  was  constantly  a  last  resort  in 
his  mind,  and  when,  in  his  later  years,  his  hear 
ing  did  grow  somewhat  dull,  his  fear  that  he 
might  be  left  both  blind  and  deaf  was  some 
times  haunting.  As  to  the  actual  extent  and 
effect  of  his  disablement,  a  few  of  his  own  re 
cords  are  worth  pages  of  description  :  — 

January  16,  1831.  "  I  can  dispense  entirely 
with  my  own  eyes." 

June  26,  1836.  "The  discouragements 
under  which  I  have  labored  have  nearly  deter 
mined  me,  more  than  once,  to  abandon  the  en 
terprise.  I  met  with  a  remark  of  Dr.  Johnson 
on  Milton  at  an  early  period,  stating  that  the 
poet  gave  up  his  history  of  Britain,  on  becom 
ing  blind,  since  no  one  could  pursue  such  investi 
gations  under  such  disadvantages.  This  remark 
of  the  great  doctor  confirmed  me  in  the  resolu 
tion  to  attempt  the  contrary.  ...  I  may  per 
haps,  therefore,  without  vanity  take  some  credit 
to  myself  for  perseverance.  I  must  not  over 
state  the  case,  however,  for  certainly  my  eyes 
have  not  been  high-gravel  blind  all  the  while." 

March  24,  1846.  "The  last  fortnight  I 
have  not  read  or  written,  in  all,  five  minutes. 


28        WILLIAM  HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

"My  notes  have  been  written  by  ear-work : 
snail-like  progress." 

November  1,  1846.  "  I  reckon  time  by  eye 
sight,  as  distances  are  now  reckoned  by  rail 
roads.  There  is  about  the  same  relative  value 
of  the  two,  in  regard  to  speed." 

In  a  letter  to  Augustin  Thierry,  who  was 
entirely  blind,  dated  July  10,  1847,  Prescott 
says  :  "  My  own  eyes  have  become  very  dim,  so 
that  I  get  not  more  than  an  hour  or,  at  most, 
an  hour  and  a  half's  use  of  them  each  day, 
and  I  fear  for  the  future.  But  your  example 
and  your  writings  have  taught  me,  I  hope,  — 
philosophy." 

March  1,  1848.  "  The  deplorable  state  of 
my  eyes." 

July  2,  1848.  "  If  I  could  only  have  some 
use  of  eyes  !  " 

July  9,  1848.  "  I  use  my  eyes  ten  minutes 
at  a  time,  for  an  hour  a  day.  So  I  snail  it 
along." 

February  15,  1849.  "  How  can  I  feel  en 
thusiasm  when  limping  like  a  blind  beggar 
on  foot  ?  I  must  make  my  brains  —  somehow 
or  other  —  save  my  eyes." 


«LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE  "  29 

July  15, 1849.  "  Worked  about  three  hours 
per  diem,  of  which  with  my  own  eyes  (grown 
very  dim,  alas  !)  about  30  minutes  a  day." 

October  3,  1853.  "  Have  been  quacking 
again  for  my  eyes." 

It  was  not  actually  quacking,  though  Pres- 
cott  suffered  many  things  of  many  physicians. 
The  real  quack  for  him  would  have  been 
Hermes  in  Zadig,  with  his  solemn  assurance : 
"If  it  had  been  the  right  eye  I  could  have 
cured  it,  but  the  wounds  of  the  left  are  incur 
able." 

June  16,  1857.  "I  fight  as  —  metaphori 
cally  speaking  —  Cervantes  fought  at  Lepanto 
—  with  one  hand  crippled." 

Yet  there  were  compensations,  even  from 
the  point  of  view  of  a  literary  man.  For  ex 
ample  :  — 

"  My  inability  to  read  handwriting  has  saved 
me  from  many  unprofitable  hours  which  I  used 
to  spend  in  verbal  hyper-criticism." 

Another  thing  which  Prescott's  disability 
spared  him  was  a  part  of  the  primary  work  of 
historical  research.  Delving  in  the  archives 
was  not  for  him.  He  transported  them,  in- 


30        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

stead,  to  his  own  library.  Able  to  employ 
competent  European  scholars,  he  had  copies 
made  of  all  the  manuscripts  that  bore  upon 
his  subject,  so  that  at  his  ease  in  Boston  he 
could  study  the  treasures  of  Simancas  and 
the  Vatican,  Paris,  Berlin,  The  Hague,  and 
the  British  State  Paper  Office.  Nearly  all 
of  the  manuscript  library  which  Prescott  ac 
cumulated  in  this  way  went  up  in  smoke,  un 
fortunately,  at  the  time  of  the  Boston  fire  of 
1872.  How  nicely  he  measured  his  strength 
against  the  obstacles,  how  coolly  and  compre 
hensively  he  planned  his  campaign,  may  be 
seen  in  an  early  letter  of  his  to  the  American 
minister  in  Madrid,  Hon.  A.  H.  Everett :  — 

BOSTON,  January  1,  1827. 

MY  -DEAR  SIR,  —  I  had  just  written  my 
preceding  letter  to  you  when  I  received  yours 
of  the  16th  of  September  last,  which,  from 
some  impediment  or  other,  has  been  more  than 
three  months  on  its  passage  to  me.  I  cannot 
express  my  sense  of  your  kindness  in  thus  read 
ily  promoting  my  undertaking.  Amid  so  many 
important  public  as  well  as  personal  concerns 


«LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE"  31 

which  necessarily  engage  you  I  had  no  right 
to  claim  this,  though  I  confess  I  did  expect  it. 
I  entirely  agree  with  you  that  it  would  be 
highly  advantageous  for  me  to  visit  Spain,  and 
to  dive  into  the  arcana  of  those  libraries  which 
you  say  contain  such  ample  stores  of  History ; 
and  I  assure  you  that,  as  I  am  situated,  no 
consideration  of  domestic  ease  would  detain 
me  a  moment  from  an  expedition  which,  after 
all,  would  not  continue  more  than  four  or  five 
months. 

But  the  state  of  my  eyes,  or,  rather,  eye,  — 
for  I  have  the  use  of  only  one  half  of  this  val 
uable  apparatus,  —  precludes  the  possibility  of 
it.  During  the  last  year  this  has  been  sadly 
plagued  with  what  the  physicians  are  pleased 
to  call  a  rheumatic  inflammation,  for  which  I 
am  now  under  treatment  from  Dr.  Jackson, 
under  the  general  direction  of  Mr.  Travers,  an 
eminent  oculist  in  England.  I  have  always 
found  traveling,  with  its  necessary  exposures, 
to  be  of  infinite  disservice  to  my  eyes,  and  in 
this  state  of  them  particularly  I  dare  not  risk 
it.  You  will  ask,  with  these  disadvantages, 
how  I  can  expect  to  succeed  in  my  enterprise  ? 


32        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PKESCOTT 

I  answer  that  I  hope  always  to  have  a  partial 
use  of  my  eyes,  and,  for  the  rest,  an  intelligent 
reader  who  is  well  acquainted  with  French, 
Spanish,  and  Latin  will  enable  me  to  effect 
with  my  ears  what  other  people  do  with  their 
eyes.  The  only  material  inconvenience  will  be 
a  necessarily  more  tedious  and  prolonged  labor. 

The  foregoing  letter  is  but  an  earnest  of  the 
cooperation  which  Prescott  had  all  his  life 
from  American  ministers  and  consuls  in  Eu 
rope.  In  addition,  experts  like  Gayangos  and 
Eich  and  Lembke  ransacked  the  libraries  and 
explored  the  archives  for  him,  in  such  a  way 
as  to  place  him  on  an  equality  with  the  histor 
ical  searchers  who  went  in  person  down  among 
the  dead  men.  A  compliment  which  Motley 
paid  him,  apropos  of  his  "  Philip  II,"  puts 
this  in  clear  light :  — 

"  I  am  astonished  at  your  omniscience.  No 
thing  seems  to  escape  you.  Many  a  little  trait 
of  character,  scrap  of  intelligence,  or  dab  of 
scene-painting  which  I  had  kept  in  my  most 
private  pocket,  thinking  I  had  fished  it  out  of 
unsunned  depths,  I  find  already  in  your  pos- 


«LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE"  33 

session,  and  now  of  course  spread  all  over  the 
globe." 

To  aid  him  at  home,  Prescott  had  private 
secretaries  to  read  to  him,  make  notes  for  him, 
and  to  decipher  and  copy  his  noctographs. 
In  this  latter  form,  nearly  all  his  writing  was 
done.  He  first  got  an  inkling  of  the  contriv 
ance  when  a  youth  in  England.  Thus  we  find 
him  writing  to  his  father  and  mother :  — 

LONDON,  July  28, 1816. 

.  .  .  Last  evening  at  Mrs.  Delafield's,  one 
of  the  charming  families  whom  I  visit  on  the 
most  intimate  footing,  I  heard  of  a  new  in 
vented  machine  by  which  blind  people  were 
enabled  to  write.  I  have  been  before  indebted 
to  Mrs.  D.  for  an  ingenious  candle  screen.  If 
this  machine  can  be  procured,  you  may  depend 
upon  it  you  will  feel  the  effects  of  it. 

And  later :  — 

PARIS,  August  24, 1816. 

.  .  .  You  must  excuse  this  writing  dear 
Parents  it  is  my  coup  d'essai  with  my  ma 
chine  for  writing  without  looking,  is  doubt 
less  almost  illegible  and  filled  with  blunders, 


34        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

as  I  have  not  seen  a  word  of  it ;  the  inven 
tion  however  is  certainly  a  very  fortunate  one 
for  me,  but  the  process  is  so  tedious.  .  .  . 

In  a  letter  to  the  publisher  of  "  Homes  of 
American  Authors,"  Prescott  himself  gave  a 
sufficiently  clear  account  of  his  writing  appa 
ratus.  His  noctograph,  he  wrote,  consisted  of 
"  a  frame  of  the  size  of  a  common  sheet  of 
letter-paper,  with  brass  wires  inserted  in  it  to 
correspond  with  the  number  of  lines  wanted. 
On  one  side  of  this  frame  is  pasted  a  leaf  of 
thin  carbonated  paper,  such  as  is  used  to  ob 
tain  duplicates.  Instead  of  a  pen,  the  writer 
makes  use  of  a  stylus,  of  ivory  or  agate,  the 
latter  better  or  harder.  The  great  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  a  blind  man's  writing  in  the 
usual  manner  arise  from  his  not  knowing 
when  the  ink  is  exhausted  in  his  pen,  and 
when  his  lines  run  into  one  another.  Both 
these  difficulties  are  obviated  by  this  simple 
writing-case,  which  enables  one  to  do  his  work 
as  well  in  the  dark  as  in  the  light."  One  of 
his  noctograph  frames  is  preserved  at  the  Mas 
sachusetts  Historical  Society. 


"LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE"  35 

Yet  one  difficulty  remained.  Prescott  some 
times  forgot  to  insert  the  sheet  of  paper,  and 
then,  as  he  once  wrote,  he  would  proceed  for  a 
page  "  in  all  the  glow  of  composition  "  before 
he  found  that  it  was  in  vain.  He  alluded  to 
this  contretemps  as  one  of  the  "  whimsical  dis 
tresses  "  of  his  method.  The  resulting  manu 
script,  however,  was  very  hard  to  make  out. 
One  of  his  secretaries,  Mr.  Eobert  Carter,  who 
was  engaged  by  Prescott  in  1847,  found  as 
signed  him  as  his  first  duty  the  making  him 
self  familiar  with  the  noctograph  writing.  "  I 
was  appalled,"  he  wrote  afterwards,  "by  its 
appearance.  It  was  nearly  as  illegible  as  so 
much  shorthand.  I  could  not  make  out  the 
first  line,  or  even  the  first  word."  This  is  fully 
confirmed  by  what  Prescott  wrote  to  R.  W. 
Griswold  in  1845.  He  said  that  the  char 
acters  of  his  noctograph  "  might  indeed  pass 
for  hieroglyphics,  but  they  were  deciphered  by 
my  secretaries.  Yet  my  hair  sometimes  stood 
on  end  at  the  woeful  blunders  and  misconcep 
tions  of  the  original  which  every  now  and  then, 
escaping  detection,  found  their  way  into  the 
first  proof  of  the  printer."  The  noctograph 


36        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

original  of  this  very  letter  to  Griswold,  it  may 
be  added,  is  preserved  among  the  Prescott 
papers,  and  itself  is  a  fine  example  of  his 
hieroglyphs.  It  contained  a  modest  autobio 
graphical  sketch,  of  which  Prescott  said  at  the 
end,  "  I  have  talked  freely  to  you  at  your  own 
suggestion,  and  your  own  discrimination  will 
lead  you  to  select  whatever  you  are  willing  to 
publish  as  coming  from  yourself  of  this  long- 
winded  argument  concerning  one  who  never 
before  wrote  a  line  about  himself."  Griswold 
had  sought  material  for  the  condensed  bio 
graphy  of  Prescott,  which  he  published  in  his 
"  Prose  Writers  of  America."  It  also  appeared 
in  Bentley's  "  Miscellany,"  and  followed  Pres 
cott 's  notes  very  closely.  Such  a  sentence  as 
this  was,  of  course,  Griswold's  own:  "The 
chaste  richness  of  his  style  could  have  resulted 
only  from  the  happiest  union  of  learning  with 
genius."  And  in  the  editor's  conscientious 
effort  to  make  the  story  appear  to  "  come  from 
himself,"  one  finds  such  a  use  of  the  original 
as  this  :  "  /  have  heard  him  say  that  his  hair 
sometimes  stood  on  end,"  etc.  Perhaps  it  did 
again  when  this  was  read  to  him. 


«LE  TRAVAIL  D'AVEUGLE  "  37 

To  compose  by  dictation  was  abhorrent  to 
Prescott.  Mr.  Carter  recorded  the  fact  that 
the  historian  dictated  his  memoir  of  Pickering, 
but  "  did  not  like  the  method,  and  never  again 
resorted  to  it  when  writing  for  the  public." 
Prescott's  own  account  of  the  matter  was  as 
follows  :  "  Thierry,  who  is  totally  blind,  urged 
me  by  all  means  to  cultivate  the  habit  of  dic 
tation,  to  which  he  had  resorted ;  and  James, 
the  eminent  novelist,  who  has  adopted  this 
habit,  finds  it  favorable  to  facility  in  composi 
tion.  But  I  am  too  long  accustomed  to  my 
own  way  to  change.  And,  to  say  truth,  I  never 
dictated  a  sentence  in  my  life  for  publication 
without  its  falling  so  flat  on  my  ear  that  I 
felt  almost  ashamed  to  send  it  to  the  press.  I 
suppose  it  is  habit." 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  INWARD  EYE 

PRESCOTT'S  partial  blindness  had  not  merely 
the  outward  effects  before  noted :  it  determined 
the  whole  course  of  his  life,  and  had  a  power 
ful  influence  in  shaping  and  beautifying  his 
character.  No  one  can  read  the  remarkable 
record  in  his  journals  of  the  way  in  which  he 
turned  from  a  dim  world  without  to  a  radiant 
world  within,  took  himself  in  hand,  and  forged 
laboriously  in  the  dark  the  tempered  weapon 
of  his  mind  and  heart,  without  becoming  per 
suaded  that  his  strength  was  plucked  from  his 
very  disabling.  It  was  his  resolute  distilling 
out  the  soul  of  goodness  in  the  things  evil  of 
his  life  which  justified  the  Rev.  N.  L.  Froth- 
ingham  in  saying  of  him,  after  his  death,  that 
the  mischance  which  robbed  him  of  eyesight 
could  "  hardly  be  called  a  calamity,  so  man 
fully,  so  sweetly,  so  wondrously  did  he  not 
only  endure  it,  but  convert  it  to  the  highest 


THE   INWARD   EYE  39 

purposes  of  a  faithful,  scholarly,  serviceable 
life."  On  Prescott's  tomb,  as  on  that  of  an 
other  gentle  scholar  and  intrepid  invalid  of  New 
England,  might  have  been  written,  "  Meine 
Triibsal  war  niein  Gliick." 

In  September  of  1815,  partly  in  pursuance 
of  plans  of  travel,  and  partly  in  the  hope  of 
benefiting  his  health,  Prescott  sailed  from 
Boston  for  the  Azores.  His  maternal  grand 
father,  Thomas  Hickling,  was  then,  and  until 
his  death  at  ninety-one,  consul  of  the  United 
States  in  the  island  of  St.  Michael's,  and  cor 
dially  welcomed  the  young  American  into  his 
charming  country  house  at  Eosto  de  Cao.  The 
large  family  of  children  by  a  second  wife,  a 
lady  native  to  the  islands,  gave  Prescott  most 
agreeable  companions,  and  for  six  weeks  he 
greatly  enjoyed  life  in  the  tropics  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances.  But,  on  Novem 
ber  1,  he  was  seized  with  a  violent  inflamma 
tion  in  the  eye,  and  for  three  months  was 
confined  to  a  dark  room,  on  a  reducing  diet. 
His  single  penciled  entry  in  the  diary  which  he 
was  then  beginning  was,  for  the  whole  period 
extending  from  November  1  to  February  1, 


40        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

the  one  pathetic  word  "  darkness."  For  a 
large  part  of  the  time  it  was  absolute  dark 
ness.  Yet  his  spirits  were  throughout  unflag 
ging.  He  was  not  merely  cheerful:  he  was 
hilarious.  He  sang,  and  spouted  poetry,  and 
mouthed  Latin,  and  walked  scores  of  miles 
within  the  four  walls  of  his  large  chamber,  — 
from  corner  to  corner,  thrusting  out  his  elbows 
to  keep  himself  from  running  against  the  sharp 
angles.  Indeed,  as  he  wrote  to  his  parents, 
he  "  emerged  "  from  his  "  dungeon,  not  with 
the  emaciated  figure  of  a  prisoner,  but  in  the 
florid  bloom  of  a  bon  vivant."  A  little  later, 
when  in  London,  he  was  told  by  the  leading 
oculist  whom  he  consulted  that  there  was  no 
hope  of  a  permanent  cure,  and  that,  as  he  wrote 
home,  "I  must  abandon  my  profession  for 
ever."  But  even  that  could  not  daunt  him, 
and  he  added,  "  Do  not  think  that  I  feel  any 
despondency.  .  .  .  My  spirits  are  full  as  high 
as  my  pulse ;  fifteen  degrees  above  the  proper 
temperament."  In  connection  with  this  indom 
itable  temper  of  Prescott's,  with  light-hearted- 
ness  that  never  failed,  may  here  be  cited  what 
his  mother  said,  years  after,  to  her  pastor: 


THE  INWARD  EYE  41 

"This  is  the  very  room  where  William  was 
shut  up  for  so  many  months  in  utter  darkness. 
In  all  that  trying  season,  when  so  much  had  to 
be  endured,  and  our  hearts  were  ready  to  fail 
us  for  fear,  I  never  in  a  single  instance  groped 
my  way  across  the  apartment  to  take  my  place 
at  his  side  that  he  did  not  salute  me  with  some 
hearty  expression  of  good  cheer,  —  as  if  we 
were  the  patients,  and  it  was  his  place  to  com 
fort  us." 

The  letters  and  journals  which  cover  the 
residence  at  St.  Michael's  and  the  subsequent 
travels  in  Europe,  1815-1817,  are  meagre,  but 
revealing.  They  show  us  the  beginnings  of  the 
man  that  was  to  be.  His  extraordinarily  warm 
family  affection  is  there.  His  amiable,  engag 
ing,  and  eminently  social  nature  appears,  — 
sometimes  with  a  characteristically  whimsical 
turn,  as  in  this  entry  in  his  St.  Michael's  diary 
for  October  20,  1815:  "Walk  with  Donna 
Maria,  made  love  and  learned  Portuguese." 
There  is  a  touch  of  the  customary  pedantry 
of  the  recent  graduate  in  his  frequent  over 
flow  of  classic  citations  and  allusions.  But 
most  striking  of  all  is  the  evidence  of  a  curious 


42        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

and  observant  mind.  His  delight  in  the  society 
of  his  aunt  and  cousins  did  not  prevent  him 
from  inquiring  into  the  agriculture  and  gov 
ernment  of  the  Azores.  Still  more  in  detail, 
and  with  an  eye  keen  beyond  the  wont  of 
youth  at  twenty-one,  did  he  scrutinize  the  pro 
ductions  of  the  soil  and  the  civil  institutions 
of  those  parts  of  England,  France,  and  Italy 
through  which  he  journeyed.  One  is  almost 
reminded  of  Arthur  Young  and  his  beloved 
turnips.  In  the  close  and  shrewd  observations 
of  these  years  do  we  get  the  clearest  prophecy 
of  the  coming  historian. 

It  is  the  making  of  the  man,  however,  which 
is  the  immediate  concern.  The  process  lies 
open  to  us  in  Prescott's  journals.  Never  was 
there  a  sharper  reminder  of  the  physical  basis 
of  life.  It  was  his  bodily  crippling  that  gave 
Prescott  an  introspective  habit.  He  watched 
himself  like  an  experimenter.  Every  symptom 
he  noted  down.  His  diet  he  scrupulously  re 
corded.  His  partition  of  the  day  —  his  hours  of 
sleep  ;  the  time  given  to  reading ;  the  amount 
of  exercise  and  recreation,  with  the  effects  of 
each ;  social  amusements  and  the  tax  paid  to 


THE  INWARD  EYE  43 

friendship,  —  all  was  written  out  and  studied 
and  commented  upon  for  three  rigorous  years. 
It  was  not  done  selfishly,  least  of  all  morbidly. 
Prescott  had  a  problem  to  solve.  How  could 
he  do  the  work  of  a  man  without  a  man's  eye 
sight?  What  regimen  would  maintain  his 
necessarily  limited  activity  at  its  highest  and 
most  continuous  flow?  What  husbanding  of 
the  hours  would  make  up  for  the  handicap 
under  which  he  must  always  labor  ?  It  was  to 
answer  those  questions  satisfactorily  to  himself 
that  Prescott  undertook  his  prolonged  self- 
scrutiny  and  self-testing.  He  did  it  almost 
with  scientific  objectivity.  He  was  as  cool  and 
unbiased  as  if  writing  of  another.  Not  one 
hint  of  a  diseased  consciousness  appears  hi  the 
whole  record.  In  this  respect,  I  think,  the  lit 
erature  of  diaries  may  be  searched  in  vain  for 
a  parallel.  To  put  one's  nature,  physical  and 
mental,  under  the  microscope  daily,  yet  to  be 
tray,  not  simply  no  morbid  feeling,  but  almost 
no  sense  of  self  at  all ;  to  be  calm,  even  jocose, 
while  recording  ill-health  and  noting  limita 
tions  ;  to  preserve  a  sunny  temper  while  wres 
tling  with  the  problem  how  to  make  a  life  bear 


44        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

fruit  in  darkness  ;  and  to  do  all  this  in  a  series 
of  records  meant  only  for  his  own  eye  and  his 
own  guidance,  —  such  was  the  high  and  unique 
achievement  of  Prescott. 

While  still  in  Europe  he  began  mortifying 
the  flesh.  A  Paris  physician  bade  him  never 
exceed  two  glasses  of  wine  per  diem.  The 
story  of  a  traveling  companion  was  that  Pres 
cott  at  once  seized  upon  the  largest  wine-glass 
on  the  table,  to  measure  by.  However  that 
may  be,  we  have  in  his  own  handwriting  a 
register  of  his  daily  wine-drinking,  covering 
a  period  of  two  years  and  nine  months.  It  was 
no  calendar  of  a  sybarite.  The  effect  on  his 
eye  was  the  one  standard  to  which  everything 
was  referred.  Thus  when  we  find  him  writing, 
July  22,  1820,  "Went  to  Nahant—  drank 
too  much  wine  in  Boston,"  we  know  that  he 
simply  meant  too  much  for  his  eye.  Wine  was 
prescribed  for  him ;  he  found  it  useful ;  the 
only  thing  required  was  to  work  out  a  rule  as 
to  kind  and  quantity,  and  this  he  did  with  an 
amazing  sort  of  impersonal  zeal.  And  every 
other  part  or  act  of  his  daily  life  was  inter 
rogated  in  the  same  spirit  and  to  the  same 


THE  INWARD  EYE  45 

end.  After  months  of  minute  inspection  and 
full  experiment,  aiming  at  the  correct  regimen, 
he  recorded  the  following  :  — 

"  Eat  meat ;  light  breakfasts  ;  temperate 
dinners  ;  light  teas  ;  no  suppers  ;  simple  food ; 
no  great  variety  at  dinner  ;  exercise  =  4  miles 
pr.  day  at  3  or  4  different  times  ;  light  not 
intense,  but  full,  clear ;  no  spirits  ;  no  wine 
except  excellent  and  old ;  not  exceed  4  glasses 
of  that,  nor  of tener  than  once  in  5  days ;  read 
moderately  large  print,  when  eye  is  well ;  not 
walk  in  the  cold  or  wind ;  no  wine  when  I 
have  a  cold  ;  no  goggles  ?  not  sit  up  late" 

A  few  disconnected  extracts  may  further 
show  the  character  of  the  entries  :  — 

March  4,  1818.  "Accursed  cold  —  God's 
will  be  done !  " 

February 4,1819.  "A cold — engagement. ' ' 

October  16,  1819.  "Cold  heightened  by 
imprudence." 

March  1, 1820.  "  Much  hurt  by  injudicious 
reading." 

January  —  ,  1820.  «  N.  B.  Theatre,  late 
Balls,  smoking,  supper  parties,  always  perni 
cious  —  ergo,  not  go  —  or  not  stay  late." 


46        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

"Kule  about  balls.  Not  more  than  one  a 
week,  and  not  stay  after  11,  or  more  than 
2J  h." 

"  Club,  not  stay  after  12." 

From  the  physical,  Prescott's  self -discipline 
passed  on  as  rigorously  to  the  mental  and  the 
moral.  His  athletic  training  of  brain  and  pen 
for  the  peculiar  work  he  gave  them  is  reserved 
for  a  later  page ;  but  he  read  his  soul  as  atten 
tively  as  he  did  his  mind  or  body.  His  habit 
was  to  keep  by  him  a  complete  inventory  of 
his  moral  qualities,  —  chiefly  a  list  of  the  faults 
against  which  he  set  himself  to  strive.  Slips 
written  by  his  own  hand,  and  seen  by  his  eye 
alone,  he  kept  in  a  large  envelope,  each  one 
bearing  a  record  of  what  he  thought  amiss  in 
himself.  Over  this  card-catalogue  of  defects  he 
would  periodically  go,  —  usually  on  a  Sunday 
morning  after  church,  —  and  conscientiously 
check  up  his  moral  account.  One  besetting  sin 
mastered,  its  record  would  be  blotted  out ;  a 
new  one  detected,  it  would  have  its  scrupulous 
entry.  To  the  last  he  kept  up  these  recurring 
self -examinations,  and  after  his  death  the  en 
velope  was  found,  marked,  "  To  be  burnt."  To 


THE  INWARD  EYE  47 

ashes  the  whole  was  indeed  reduced.  Not 
enough  to  make  a  moment's  blaze,  —  the  faults 
of  one  so  universally  loved  !  "  The  only  man," 
wrote  Hillard,  "  whom  we  never  heard  any  one 
speak  against." 

In  the  early  journals  there  are  some  traces  of 
the  struggle  of  Prescott's  spirit  to  find  itself. 
A  few  of  these  may  be  properly  transcribed  :  — 

"  Since  the  age  of  23,  the  most  wretched 
period  of  my  life  was  when  my  passions  and 
temper  controlled  me,  the  most  happy,  when  I 
controlled  them." 

"  Without  answering  for  others,  I  may  say 
that  these  qualities  of  mind  are  sufficient  for 
my  happiness :  — 

I.  Good  Nature.  II.  Manliness.  III.  Inde 
pendence.  IY.  Industry.  V.  Honesty.  VI. 
Cheerful  Views.  VII.  Keligious  Confidence." 

Finally,  as  if  bursting  into  a  "  let  us  hear 
the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter," 

"  Voila. 

P.  S.  I  have  been  perfectly  contented,  light- 
hearted  &  happy,  ye  last  2  weeks  —  with  my 
BOOKS  7  hrs.  &  DOMESTIC  SOCIETY — &  Benev* 
Feels  (Not  thinking  of  it)  Not  VANITY  " 


CHAPTER  V 
PREPARATION 

To  Prescott,  as  to  "gentle  Sir  Philip  Sid 
ney,"  it  might  have  been  said,  "  thou  knewest 
what  belonged  to  a  scholar ;  thou  knewest  what 
pains,  what  toil,  what  travail,  conduct  to  per 
fection."  The  records  of  his  rigid  discipline 
from  his  twenty-sixth  to  his  fortieth  year  remain 
as  proof  of  what  would  otherwise  seem,  consid 
ering  his  handicap,  the  incredible  amount  of 
work  he  got  through.  With  the  sure  prospect 
of  indifferent  health  and  dependence  upon  the 
eyes  of  another,  he  attacked  light-heartedly  a 
mass  of  reading  which  would  have  taxed  the 
rudest  physique.  His  toils,  moreover,  were 
undertaken  through  no  necessity,  —  except  the 
spur  of  a  noble  mind,  —  since  his  father's 
ample  means  assured  him  comfort  and  even 
luxury.  But  we  find  him,  soon  after  his  return 
from  Europe  in  1817,  resolutely  sitting  down 
to  perfect  his  Latin,  and  to  make  himself 


PREPARATION  49 

master  of  three  modern  literatures.  "I  am 
now,"  lie  wrote  in  his  journal  early  in  1822, 
"  twenty-six  years  of  age,  nearly.  By  the  time 
I  am  thirty,  God  willing,  I  propose,  with  what 
stock  I  have  already  on  hand,  to  be  a  very 
well-read  English  scholar;  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  classical  and  useful  authors,  prose 
and  poetry,  in  Latin,  French,  and  Italian, 
and  especially  in  history ;  I  do  not  mean  a 
critical  or  profound  acquaintance.  The  two 
following  years,  31-32,  I  may  hope  to  learn 
German,  and  to  have  read  the  classical  Ger 
man  writers ;  and  the  translations,  if  my  eye 
continues  weak,  of  the  Greek.  And  this  is 
enough  for  general  discipline."  For  German, 
he  had  to  offer  Spanish  as  a  substitute.  To 
his  great  regret  and  temporary  deep  depres 
sion,  his  feeble  eyesight  compelled  him  to  give 
up  the  Gothic  script.  A  secretary  could  make 
French  or  Spanish  intelligible  to  him  ;  but  he 
found  that,  without  a  dangerous  strain  of  his 
weak  eye,  he  could  not  thoroughly  acquire 
the  language  of  the  learned,  which  would  have 
been  so  useful  to  him  in  his  historical  pur 
suits.  Accordingly,  after  much  deliberation 


50        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

and  long  balancing  of  his  strength  against  the 
obstacles,  he  decided  that  it  was  out  of  his 
reach.  The  remainder  of  his  programme,  how 
ever,  he  adhered  to  religiously  and  carried  out 
triumphantly.  Aided  at  first  by  his  friend 
Gardiner  and  a  devoted  sister,  who  read  to 
him  hours  every  day,  and  later  on  by  private 
secretaries,  whom  he  began  regularly  to  employ 
in  1824,  he  put  an  immense  amount  of  mate 
rial  behind  him.  During  several  of  those  years 
of  preparation,  furthermore,  Prescott  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  able  to  use  his  eye  without 
harm.  Thus  on  January  24, 1829,  we  find  the 
record :  — 

"By  the  blessing  of  Heaven  I  have  been 
enabled  to  have  the  free  use  of  my  eyes  in 
the  day  time  during  the  preceding  weeks  with 
out  the  exception  of  a  single  day,  although  de 
prived  for  nearly  a  fortnight  of  my  habitual 
exercise.  I  trust  I  have  not  abused  this  great 
privilege." 

In  English,  Prescott's  reading  was  wide- 
ranging.  The  niceties  of  philology  were  not 
for  him,  though  one  of  the  heads  of  the  "  course 
of  studies  "  which  he  marked  out  for  himself 


PREPARATION  51 

in  October,  1821,  was  "Principles  of  gram 
mar,  correct  writing,  etc."  His  main  strength 
he  expended  upon  another  section  of  his  plan, 
namely,  "  Fine  prose-writers  of  English  from"1 
Roger  Ascham  to  the  present  day,  principally 
with  reference  to  their  mode  of  writing  —  not 
including  historians,  except  as  far  as  requisite 
for  an  acquaintance  with  style."  His  note 
books  survive  to  tell  the  tale  of  his  faithful 
performance  of  the  task.  Ascham,  Sidney, 
Bacon,  Browne,  Raleigh,  Milton;  the  great 
preachers ;  the  old  English  drama ;  romances 
and  ballads ;  historians  and  critics  down  to 
his  contemporaries  Jeffrey  and  Gifford,  —  all 
passed  in  review  before  him.  Nor  did  the 
names  and  volumes  stand  to  him  as  a  mere 
catalogue.  He  read,  marked,  and  inwardly 
digested.  Not  extracts,  but  critiques,  fill  his 
commonplace  books.  "  This  criticism  and  anal 
ysis,"  he  wrote  in  June,  1823,  "  shall  be  made 
weekly,  at  each  time  reviewing  it  as  a  whole. 
.  .  .  The  reflections  shall  be  made  carefully, 
for  it  is  obvious  that  superficial  considerations 
are  not  worth  recording,  as  the  recollection  of 
them  can  in  no  way  add  to  the  solid  stores 


62        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

of  knowledge."  Ticknor  gave  two  specimens 
of  Prescott's  condensed  characterizations,  As- 
cham  and  Milton.  I  will  add  the  one  of 
Burke,  remarkably  near  the  white  for  so  young 
a  critic :  — 

"  Splendid,  fervent,  very  declamatory ;  a 
fiery  imagination,  following  up  his  game  with 
argument  and  illustration  and  emphasis,  with 
a  vehemence  and  rapidity  that  cannot  be  re 
sisted.  As  declamatory  as  Bolingbroke,  but 
more  force,  more  of  the  'vivida  vis  animi,' 
rather  glowing  with  the  force  of  his  own  im 
petuosity  than  with  the  studied  embellishment 
of  fancy.  Borrowing  his  images,  examples 
from  the  meanest  sources,  no  matter  where  so 
long  as  they  enforce  his  purpose,  yet  too  re 
dundant,  even  tedious." 

French  and  Italian  studies  came  next,  and 
were  equally  generous.  Into  French  literature 
he  went,  as  he  expressed  it,  "deeper  and 
wider  "  than  into  Latin,  since  his  object  was 
not  simply  to  strengthen  his  memory  of  old 
favorites,  but  to  acquire  a  familiarity  with  an 
entire  body  of  writers.  From  Froissart  to 
Chateaubriand  he  covered  the  ground  with 


PREPARATION  53 

singular  thoroughness.  He  collected  material 
for  the  life  of  Moliere  which  he  at  one  time 
intended  to  write.  Italian  he  pursued  with 
more  delight  than  French.  His  favorite  quota 
tions,  in  letters  and  in  his  journals,  were  from 
Italian  poets.  In  company  with  Ticknor,  and 
aided  by  an  Italian  scholar  living  an  exile  in 
Boston,  he  pushed  his  reading  far  beyond  the 
beaten  track,  and  at  one  time  thought  seri 
ously  of  writing  a  history  of  Italian  literature. 
The  solidity  of  his  attainments  in  this  field 
may  be  measured  by  his  two  elaborate  articles 
on  Italian  Poetry  in  the  "  North  American 
Review  "of  October,  1824,  and  July,  1831. 
Spanish,  Prescott  took  up  through  a  happy 
accident  of  friendship.  In  his  journal  for  Feb 
ruary  13,  1825,  he  wrote :  "  I  began  the 
study  of  Spanish,  December  1,  1824,  since 
which  period  I  have  written  daily  exercises, 
studied  grammar,  read,  etc."  The  prompting 
came  through  his  fondness  for  Ticknor,  who 
was  then  delivering  in  Harvard  those  lectures 
which  afterwards  grew  into  his  monumental 
"  History  of  Spanish  Literature."  Thus  at 
more  than  twenty-eight  Prescott  began  the 


64        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

study  of  the  language  that  was  to  bulk  largest 
in  his  life's  work.  His  knowledge  of  its  litera 
ture  early  became  extensive,  and  his  collection 
of  Spanish  books  ranked  second  after  Tick- 
nor's.  He  came  to  think  and  write  in  Spanish 
with  great  freedom,  though  his  command  of 
the  language  was  not  perfect :  in  the  letters 
and  entries  in  his  journal  which  he  wrote  in 
Spanish  there  are  occasional  minor  lapses. 
And,  singularly  enough,  he  did  not  at  first 
find  Spanish  simpdtico.  He  wrote  to  his 
friend  Bancroft  at  Christmas,  1824,  "  I  am 
battling  with  the  Spaniards  this  winter,  but  I 
have  not  the  heart  for  it  that  I  had  for  the 
Italians."  He  added,  with  an  amusing  uncon 
sciousness  of  what  his  fate  was  to  be,  "  I 
doubt  whether  there  are  many  valuable  things 
that  the  key  of  knowledge  will  unlock  in  that 
language ! " 

Prescott  seems  early  to  have  felt  a  bent  to 
wards  historical  composition.  About  1822  he 
wrote  in  his  private  memoranda,  "  History  has 
always  been  a  favorite  study  with  me  ;  and  I 
have  long  looked  forward  to  it  as  a  subject  on 
which  I  was,  one  day,  to  exercise  my  pen.  .  .  . 


PREPARATION  55 

But  it  requires  time,  and  a  long  time,  before 
the  mind  can  be  prepared  for  this  department 
of  writing.  I  think  thirty-five  years  of  age 
[he  was  then  twenty-six]  full  soon  enough  to 
put  pen  to  paper."  The  story  of  his  quest  of 
a  congenial  theme  comes  later ;  but  here  may 
be  noted  a  few  details  of  the  methods  he  pur 
sued  in  preparing  for  the  work  that  awaited 
him.  Discipline  in  industry  and  concentra 
tion  of  mind  were  among  the  ends  which  he 
earliest  set  before  himself.  Thus,  on  Decem 
ber  1,  1824,  he  wrote  in  his  journal :  "  I  have 
read  with  no  method  and  very  little  diligence 
or  spirit  for  three  months  [it  was  about  the 
time  of  his  dejection  at  having  to  give  up  Ger 
man].  .  .  .  To  the  end  of  my  life  I  trust  I 
shall  be  more  avaricious  of  time  [this  phrase 
frequently  dropped  off  Prescott's  pen]  and 
never  put  up  with  a  smaller  average  than  7 
hours  intellectual  occupation  per  diem."  Six 
years  later,  May  13,  1830,  he  exhorted  him 
self  to  "  imitate  the  perseverance  and  literary 
ardor  of  the  Germans.  I  must  be  avaricious 
of  time  as  regards  domestic  pleasures."  He 
was  able  to  record  progress  in  fixity  of  at- 


56        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

tention.  "  I  can  think,"  he  wrote  on  June  1, 
1829,  "  in  one  place  as  well  as  another,  and  in 
company  as  well  as  alone.  I  can  work  rapidly 
in  proportion  to  the  concentration  of  my 
thoughts ;  I  ought  to  be  able  to  confine  these 
to  any  given  subject  for  eight  or  ten  hours  a 
day." 

"  Maxims  in  Composition "  were  given  a 
place  in  the  first  of  his  journals,  and  were 
often  recurred  to.  Some  of  these  were  of  the 
mnemonic  order. 

In  October,  1824,  he  elaborated  twenty 
"  Rules  for  Composition."  In  these  a  note  of 
independence  is  firmly  struck.  "  State  with 
confidence  what  I  know  to  be  true."  "  Rely 
on  myself  for  estimation  and  criticism  of  my 
composition."  "  Write  what  I  think  without 
affectation  upon  subjects  I  have  examined." 
Withal,  Fresco tt  had  a  strong  grasp  on  real 
ity.  He  longed  to  saturate  himself  in  matter. 
Thus  on  July  3,  1828,  he  said  to  himself, 
"  Facts,  facts,  whether  in  the  shape  of  inci 
dents  or  opinions,  are  what  I  must  rely  upon." 
Yet  later  on  he  added,  —  what  shows  that  he 


PREPARATION  57 

was  neither  a  logician  of  the  "  all-case  "  order, 
nor  an  artist  who  knew  not  what  to  leave  out, 
—  "  Mem.  Never  introduce  what  is  irrelevant 
or  superfluous  or  unconnected  for  the  sake  of 
crowding  in  more  facts." 

Prescott's  style,  the  care  with  which  he 
built  it  up,  and  the  conscientious  attention 
he  gave  to  every  defect  which  his  own  critical 
eye  or  the  acuteness  of  friend  or  reviewer 
could  detect  in  it,  may  best  be  considered  in 
connection  with  the  writings  themselves.  But 
so  much  as  has  been  given  was  necessary  to 
show  the  temper  in  which  he  wrought  during 
all  those  years  preceding  the  time  when,  as 
Webster  said  of  him,  he  "burst  upon  the 
world  like  a  comet."  Not  the  least  important 
element  in  his  preparation  was  his  happy  mar 
riage.  This  took  place  on  his  twenty-fourth 
birthday,  May  4,  1820.  He  married  Susan, 
daughter  of  Thomas  C.  Amory  and  Hannah 
Linzee,  his  wife.  It  was  a  felicitous  union, 
singularly  helpful  to  Prescott.  Long  after 
wards  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "  Contrary  to  the 
assertion  of  La  Bruyere,  —  who  somewhere  says 


58        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

that  the  most  fortunate  husband  finds  reason 
to  regret  his  condition  at  least  once  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  —  I  may  truly  say  that  I  have  found 
no  such  day  in  the  quarter  of  a  century  that 
Providence  has  spared  us  to  each  other." 


CHAPTER  VI 
BEGINNINGS 

PRESCOTT'S  first  appearance  in  print  was  some 
thing  of  a  frolic  affair.    "  The  Club-Room,"  of 
which  he  was  editor,  and  which  ran  its  course 
in  four  numbers,  had  its  origin  in  a  literary 
and  social  club,  formed  in  1818.    Beginning 
with  a  small  number  of  intimates,  it  rose  to  a 
membership  of  twenty-four,  and  for  more  than 
forty  years  was  a  pleasure  and  solace  to  Pres- 
cott.    He  was  from  the  first  its  leading  spirit. 
When  the  proposal  came  to  print  some  of  the 
papers  read  at  the  meetings,  it  was  Prescott 
who  suggested  a  periodical  form  of  publica 
tion,  and  it  was  he  who  was  appointed  its 
editor.    He  undertook   the  function  seriously 
enough,  making  a  note  in  his  journal  of  the 
names  of   those  who   agreed  to  furnish  him 
"  6  printed  pages  at  a  week's  notice  once  in 
three  weeks  for  the  year  1820."    But  the  dews 
of  mortality  as  well  as  of  youth  were  upon  the 


60        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

venture  from  the  start,  and  its  birth  and  burial 
were  not  too  far  apart  to  be  recorded  on  a 
single  page  of  Prescott's  note-book.  Here 
it  is  :  — 

"February  5,  1820.   <Club  Room,  No.  I.'  published 
containing : 

Club-Room,     Happiness,     Recollections,     Castle-building, 
Warren.          Parsons.  Dexter.  Ware. 

500  copies. 


«  March  10th,  1820.  '  Club  Room,  No.  II.'  published 
—  containing  44  pages  —  Club-room  —  Lake  George, 
Ennui  —  Village  Grave-yard  —  Calais. 

"  April  26th,  1820.  « Club  Room,  No.  III.'  published 
containing  56  pages  —  Sea  of  ye  Poets.  Sequel  to  Re 
collections,  Travels.  Memorial.  Vale  of  Alleriat. 
Julietta  Promeoni  —  price  45. 

"July  19,  1820.  'Club  Room,  No.  IV.'  published 
containing  39  pages  — Voyage  of  Discovery.  Ruins  of 
Rome  —  price  37^  cts. 

"  And  here  ended  this  precious  publication." 

Prescott's  own  contributions  are  three  in 
number.  One  was  the  "  Vale  of  Alleriat,"  a 
sentimental  tale  ;  another  was  "  Calais,"  a  trifle 
of  a  cleared-up  ghost  story,  which  the  author 
states  that  he  gives  "  as  it  was  told  to  us,"  and 
which  Ticknor  informs  us  that  Washington 


BEGINNINGS  61 

Allston  "used  to  tell  with  striking  effect." 
This  would  imply  that  Allston  had  an  extraor 
dinary  power  of  making  the  tame  vivid.  In  the 
second  number  Prescott  wrote  the  introductory 
article  giving  a  whimsical  account  of  the  nam 
ing  and  purposes  of  the  Club-Room.  Referring 
to  the  search  of  the  hero  of  La  Mancha  for 
"  curious  names  "  [this  was  four  years  before 
Prescott  began  Spanish] ,  he  says  :  — 

"  We  had  actually  no  less  than  seven  meet 
ings  extraordinary  to  adjust  a  title  for  our 
paper.  The  Epicureans  would  have  christened 
it  Hotch-pot  (the  old  English  for  pudding) 
containing,  as  Lord  Lyttleton  informs  us, 4  not 
one  thing  only,  but  one  thing  with  many  others 
together,'  which  by  the  variety  of  its  ingredi 
ents  would  show  forth  the  very  nature  of  our 
work.  But  to  this  the  Dyspeptics  (a  modern 
party  who  have  gradually  grown  out  of  the 
former,  and  like  many  other  colonies,  now 
quarrel  with  the  parent  state)  objected,  from 
the  persuasion  that  so  gross  a  name  must 
necessarily  exclude  it  from  all  persons  of  deli 
cate  tastes  —  and  digestion. 

"The  Cynics  recommended  'Tales  of  the 


62         WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Tub,'  and  the  Peripatetics  proposed  *  Veloci 
pede/  In  this  crisis,  being,  as  usual,  unani 
mously  divided  in  our  opinions,  we  determined 
to  follow  the  example  of  the  ancient  Greeks, 
who  when  each  man  had  voted  himself  the  best 
general  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  wisely  balloted 
for  the  second-best ;  and  in  precisely  the  same 
manner  did  we  at  length  resolve  upon  the  very 
ingenious  name  of  the  Club-Room. 

"As  this  is  the  proper  place  we  cannot  re 
frain  from  felicitating  both  ourselves  and  the 
public  upon  the  selection  of  so  significant  a 
title,  which,  we  do  assure  them,  is  a  careful 
translation  from  the  ^V/ATTWCTIOV  of  Xenophon, 
and  was  done  into  English  by  a  learned  Pro 
fessor  of  the  University,  solely  with  a  view  to 
this  publication  "... 

"  Our  book  has  been  favored  with  the  usual 
introductory  compliments  paid  to  works  of 
merit  upon  their  entrance  into  life ;  and  has 
been  denounced  as  both  flat  and  stale,  and 
some  promising  little  critics  have  even  discov 
ered  that  we  are  downright  imitators  of  Sal 
magundi  and  the  Sketch  Book.  But  all  such 
reflections  we  put  down  to  the  account  of  sheer 


BEGINNINGS  63 

ignorance  and  bad  taste,  to  say  no  worse,  and 
we  recommend  their  authors  to  read  deeper 
and  grow  wiser. 

"  We  would  caution  any  ignorant  or  mali 
cious  people  against  imagining  this  work  to  be 
the  cream  of  our  wits,  for,  in  truth,  it  is  nothing 
but  the  froth  and  overflowings  of  them,  which, 
if  they  choose,  they  may  scoop  up,  and  if  not, 
it  may  run  to  waste  ;  we  care  not  a  groat." 

More  serious  work  followed.  In  1821  Pres- 
cott  began  to  contribute  to  the  "  North  Ameri 
can  Keview,"  and  for  more  than  thirty  years 
thereafter  he  rarely  failed  to  produce  what  he 
called  "my  annual  peppercorn  for  the  Old 
North."  From  a  memorandum  of  uncertain 
date,  but  probably  written  in  1820,  is  taken 
this  account  of  his  plans  in  regard  to  this  form 
of  literary  activity,  and  his  conception  of  the 
way  in  which  it  would  fit  into  his  general 
scheme.  "  I  will  write  a  review  no  oftener  than 
once  in  three  numbers  of  the  c  No.  American 
Review '  —  no  oftener,  and  print  only  what  I 
think  will  add  to  my  reputation  ...  In  the 
interim  I  will  follow  a  course  of  reading  and 
make  the  subjects  of  my  reviews,  as  far  as  I 


64        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

can,  fall  in  with  this  course,  or  with  what  I 
have  before  read.  .  .  .  Pursue  this  course  till 
I  am  thirty  .  .  .  Mem.  I  will  never  engage 
to  write  for  a  number."  For  a  time  Prescott 
thought  of  seeking  print  in  the  more  noted 
English  reviews.  Through  Sparks  he  offered 
an  article  to  the  "  Quarterly,"  and  a  letter  from 
Lockhart,  June  9,  1828,  records  the  fact  that 
the  editor  had  "  perused  Mr.  Prescott 's  essay, 
and  prays  that  Mr.  Sparks  will  tell  him  that 
he  has  pleasure  in  accepting  it  for  the  '  Quar 
terly  Review.'  "  Lockhart  also  requested  that 
Prescott  would  indicate  subjects  on  which  he 
might  be  asked  to  write  other  reviews.  The 
article  in  question  was  that  on  the  "  Poetry 
and  Romance  of  the  Italians."  Its  publication 
was  so  long  delayed,  however,  that  Prescott 
finally  reclaimed  his  manuscript  and  gave  it  to 
the  "  North  American."  It  was  there  printed  in 
1831.  Useful  as  Prescott's  review-writing  was 
to  him,  both  as  pen-practice  and  means  of  re 
pute,  he  came  later,  like  many  an  enfranchised 
hack,  to  have  a  poor  opinion  of  it.  In  1843 
he  wrote  in  his  journal :  "  Criticism  has  got  to 
be  an  old  story.  It  is  impossible  for  any  one 


BEGINNINGS  65 

who  has  done  that  sort  of  work  himself  to  have 
any  respect  for  it.  How  can  one  critic  look 
another  in  the  face  without  laughing  ?  "  After 
the  date  last  mentioned  he  did  no  reviewing 
except  at  the  behest  of  friendship.  His  charm 
ing  friend  and  correspondent  for  many  years, 
Madame  Calderon  de  la  Barca,  had  the  ad 
vantage  of  a  notice  by  Prescott  of  her  viva 
cious  "  Travels  in  Mexico."  In  1850  Ticknor's 
"  Spanish  Literature "  claimed  a  similar  tri 
bute.  On  this  subject  the  diary  yields  two 
extracts :  — 

September  12, 1849.  "  Now  for  the  review  — 
my  last  and  only  in  this  line,  —  though  for  the 
author's  sake  I  shall  do  it  con  amore." 

October  25,  1849.  "Have  read  for  and 
written  an  article  in  the  *  North  American  Re 
view  '  on  my  friend  Ticknor's  great  work  — 
my  last  effort  in  the  critical  line  .  .  .  Now, 
Muse  of  History,  never  more  will  I  desert  thy 
altar!" 

He  did,  however,  on  a  single  occasion  more, 
to  wit:  — 

September  28,  1853.  "  Also  written  a  no 
tice  of  Hillard's  '  Six  Months  in  Italy '  —  thin 


66        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

porridge  —  not  the  book,  but  my  notice  of  it. 
It  will  make  10  pp.  of  my  History  in  quantity 
—  a  column  and  a  half  of  the  '  National  Intel 
ligencer,'  an'  they  will  print  it." 

Making  out  once  in  his  journal  a  list  of  all 
his  review  articles  and  fugitive  contributions 
to  literary  periodicals,  Prescott  affixed  the  too 
contemptuous  judgment,  "  This  sort  of  ephem 
eral  trash  had  better  be  forgotten  by  me  as 
soon  as  possible."  When,  in  1845,  his  London 
publisher,  Bentley,  proposed  a  volume  of  Pres- 
cott's  miscellaneous  writings,  —  it  appeared  as 
"  Critical  and  Historical  Essays,"  —  the  author 
spoke  of  the  matter  as  "trumpery"  and  a 
"  rechauffe  of  old  bones."  However,  he  assented 
to  their  publication,  muttering  good-natured 
protests  to  himself  and  his  correspondents.  A 
few  of  his  private  entries  will  show  his  attitude 
of  mind. 

March  8, 1845.  "  Finished  doctoring  my  old 
articles  in  the  N.  A.  for  Bentley.  Have  run 
them  over  very  superficially.  If  they  prove  as 
hard  reading  to  the  public  as  to  me,  I  pity 
them.  But  to  me  they  are  an  old  tale." 

September  15,  1845.    "Rec'd   my  vol.  of 


BEGINNINGS  67 

'Mis'  from  Bentley  ...  As  to  the  portrait 
of  the  author,  it  shows  more  imagination,  I 
suspect,  than  anything  in  the  book." 

The  American  edition  had  the  Harper  im 
print. 

June  24,  1845.  "I  have  made  an  agree 
ment  with  the  Harpers.  .  .  .  My  portrait  is 
to  be  prefixed  thereto  —  which  they  consider, 
I  suppose,  putting  a  good  face  on  the  mat 
ter." 

What  Prescott  himself  rated  so  low  need  not 
long  detain  us.  These  early  essays  of  his  are 
plentifully  bedewed  with  learning;  they  show 
us  an  author  almost  uniformly  urbane  and 
gentle  ;  in  them  we  can  see  his  historical  spirit 
preening  its  wings,  and  his  historical  style  in 
the  forming.  Judged  by  the  standards  of  the 
day,  they  are  elegant  specimens  of  leisurely 
reviewing.  But  for  real  criticism,  deep  insight 
into  literature  or  life,  vigorous  comment,  biting 
characterization,  phrases  that  haunt  the  mem 
ory,  one  would  turn  to  them  in  vain. 

A  just  idea  of  Prescott's  critical  faculty,  as 
compared  with  Carlyle's,  may  be  had  by  set 
ting  over  against  each  other  the  reviews  of 


68        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Lockhart's  "  Scott "  which  the  two  men  wrote. 
Both  were  published  in  the  same  year,  1838, 
Prescott's  in  the  "  North  American,"  Carlyle's 
in  the  "London  and  Westminster  Review." 
The  American  is  flowing  and  refined;  the 
Scotchman  jerky  and  uncouth.  Prescott  de 
bates  whether  Lockhart  may  be  thought  guilty 
of  "  occasionally  exposing  what  a  nice  tender 
ness  for  the  reputation  of  Scott  should  have  led 
him  to  conceal."  Carlyle  exults  that  the  book 
is  no  "vacuum  biography,"  leaving  its  sub 
ject  in  "the  white  beatified-ghost  condition." 
"  How  delicate  decent  is  English  biography, 
bless  its  mealy  mouth !  "  Passing  to  personal 
judgment,  Prescott  ranks  Scott  among  the 
greatest.  "  There  is  no  man  of  historical  celeb 
rity  that  we  now  recall  who  combined,  in  so 
eminent  a  degree,  the  highest  qualities  of  the 
moral,  the  intellectual,  and  the  physical."  As 
if  in  protest  against  such  easy  conferring  of 
the  laurel,  the  ruggeder  Scot  strives  to  mea 
sure  his  countryman  more  accurately :  "  It  is 
good  that  there  be  a  certain  degree  of  pre 
cision  in  our  epithets.  It  is  good  to  understand, 
for  one  thing,  that  no  popularity  and  open- 


BEGINNINGS  69 

mouthed  wonder  of  all  the  world,  continued 
even  for  a  long  series  of  years,  can  make  a 
man  great,"  etc. 

Even  harder  for  Prescott  to  bear  would  be 
a  comparison  of  his  essay  on  Cervantes  with 
Lowell's  brief  lecture  on  "  Don  Quixote."  The 
earlier  writer  abounds  in  information.  He 
gives  an  excellent  biographical  sketch  of  Cer 
vantes.  He  enumerates  all  the  editions  of 
"Don  Quixote,"  drawing  from  the  editor  of 
one  of  them,  F.  Sales,  a  letter  expressing  his 
"ineffable  pleasure  "  at  reading  so  .masterly  a 
review.  All  is  high-bred  and  scholarly,  but  of 
criticism,  strictly  speaking,  the  essay  is  blame 
less.  Lowell  was  able,  for  his  address  to  work- 
ingmen,  to  draw  from  his  scribblings  on  the 
margin  of  his  own  "  Don  Quixote  "  shrewder 
remarks  and  more  illuminating  comments  than 
were  dreamed  of  in  Prescott's  philosophy.  In 
the  later  writer  we  see,  what  we  do  not  in  the 
earlier,  learning  subordinated  to  interpreta 
tion,  and  a  creative  work  followed  sympatheti 
cally  by  a  creative  mind.  Prescott  was  prima 
rily  an  historian ;  and  luckily  it  could  not  be 
said  of  him,  as  it  has  been  of  no  less  a  man 


70        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

than  Sainte-Beuve,  that  he  was  a  writer  sui 
cide  en  critique. 

Along  with  these  minor  writings  of  Prescott 
may  be  conveniently  grouped  his  "  Life  of 
Charles  Brockden  Brown  "  and  his  "  Memoir 
of  John  Pickering."  The  former  he  undertook 
for  the  collection  of  American  biographies 
edited  by  Jared  Sparks.  It  was  a  slight  but 
graceful  bit  of  writing,  which  much  exagger 
ates  the  merits  of  Brown,  as  Prescott  himself, 
later  in  life,  was  the  first  to  acknowledge.  His 
private  record  shows  the  speed  with  which  the 
work  was  done,  and  the  author's  view  of  it  at 
the  time. 

July  14, 1833.  "  Began  to  write  on  Brown's 
life  —  at  Nahant." 

July  29,  1833.  "Finished  Brown's  Life 
and  Writings.  Written  at  the  rate  of  between 
3  and  4  noctographs  per  day.  I  am  afraid 
it  will  verify  the  proverb  of  '  easy  writing,' 
etc.  The  subject  proved  not  at  all  to  my 
taste.  ...  I  could  not  have  finished  one  of 
his  novels  unless  as  a  job." 

However,  his  editor  was  satisfied,  witness 
the  following  letter :  — 


BEGINNINGS  71 

CAMBRIDGE,  August  9, 1833. 
DEAR  PRESCOTT,  —  The  Life  has  come  to 
hand,  and  I  have  read  it  with  great  pleasure 
and  perfect  satisfaction  on  all  accounts.  It  is 
just  the  thing  it  should  be,  and  you  need  not 
fear  to  put  your  name  to  it.  As  a  literary 
criticism  upon  Brown's  genius  and  writings,  it 
is  beautiful,  spirited,  and  graphic.  There  is 
nothing  wanting  but  more  biographical  inci 
dents  and  personal  traits.  These  are  not  to  be 
created,  and  if  there  were  none  to  be  found, 
why,  there  was  an  end  of  the  matter.  I  can 
not  think  that  Brown's  friends  will  not  be 
pleased  with  your  representation.  If  not,  they 
will  be  more  unreasonable  than  is  to  be  ex 
pected.  .  .  .  All  your  dates  are  1493>  etc. 
This  shows  that  your  mind  was  running  on 
the  age  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Go  on 
and  prosper,  and  believe  me,  with  kind  remem 
brances  and  regards  to  your  family, 

As  ever  your  sincere  friend, 

JARED  SPARKS. 

The  memoir  of  Pickering  was  undertaken 
at  the  request  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 


72        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Society,  in  whose  collections  (Third  Series, 
Vol.  X)  it  is  to  be  found.  It  was  a  brief 
sketch  of  a  friend  who  deserved  commemora 
tion  for  scholarly  attainments  and  a  quietly 
useful  life.  "  It  will  not  be  long,"  wrote  Pres- 
cott  of  this  undertaking,  "  but,  long  or  short, 
it  will  be  a  labor  of  love ;  for  there  is  no  man 
whom  I  honored  more.  .  .  .  He  was  a  true 
and  kind  friend  to  me  ;  and,  from  the  first 
moment  of  my  entering  on  my  historic  career 
down  to  the  close  of  his  life,  he  watched  over 
my  literary  attempts  with  the  deepest  interest. 
It  will  be  a  sad  pleasure  for  me  to  pay  an 
honest  tribute  to  the  good  man's  worth." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  QUEST  OF  A  THEME 

PRESCOTT'S  bent  towards  historical  writing 
declared  itself  strongly  very  soon  after  his  loss 
of  sight  compelled  him  to  abandon  the  law. 
One  letter  of  his  notes  a  tendency  to  histori 
cal  studies  perceptible  in  1819.  "  A  man," 
he  wrote,  "  must  find  something  to  do,"  and 
to  the  writing  of  history  he  turned  as  by  a 
deep  and  sure  instinct.  In  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Rufus  Ellis,  dated  June  1,  1857,  he  said:  "I 
had  early  conceived  a  strong  passion  for  his 
torical  writing,  to  which,  perhaps,  the  reading 
of  Gibbon's  'Autobiography'  contributed 
not  a  little.  I  proposed  to  make  myself  an  his 
torian  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term."  It  was 
long,  however,  before  he  found  the  subject  truly 
adapted  to  his  ambition  and  his  powers.  His 
search  for  it  is  minutely  recorded  in  his  jour 
nal,  during  all  his  years  of  preparatory  study. 


74        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

An  early  entry  took  a  broad  survey  of  pos 
sible 

"SUBJECTS   FOR   COMPOSITION." 

"  I.  Autobiography,  a  la  Alfieri  [this  was 
later  struck  through  with  his  pen] . 

"  II.  Parallel  between  the  Greek  Demigods 
and  Heroes  of  Chivalry. 

"  III.  Comparison  between  the  literatures  of 
different  nations. 

"  IV.  Defense  of  any  authors  or  species  of 
composition  in  the  English  tongue  against 
any  foreign  critics  who  may  have  impugned 
them." 

[A  dozen  others  of  the  kind  ending  with] 

"XVI.  CuiBono?" 

Soon  his  scope  was  narrowed,  at  the  same 
tune  that  the  intensity  of  his  researches  was 
heightened.  All  that  is  necessary  is  to  trace 
the  trail  as  he  has  blazed  it.  About  1822  he 
wrote :  — 

"It  is  not  rash,  in  the  dearth  of  a  well- 
written   American   history,  to   entertain    the 
hope   of  throwing  light  upon  this  matter  — 
especially  with  the   rich  materials  which  are 
now  buried  in  pedantic  lumber  and  foreign 


THE  QUEST  OF  A  THEME  75 

languages  in  the  Ebeling  collection.  But  it 
requires  time,  and  a  long  time,  before  the 
mind  can  be  prepared  for  this  department  of 
writing." 

There  speaks  Prescott's  passion  for  thor 
oughly  documenting  himself.  It  never  left 
him.  And  he  took  time. 

October  16,  1825.  "I  have  been  so  hesi 
tating  and  reflecting  upon  what  I  shall  do  that 
I  have,  in  fact,  done  nothing.  I  have  looked 
into  one  or  two  pamphlets :  into  Schlegel's 
<  Histoire  du  XVIII  Siecle.'  " 

October  30,  1825.  "  I  have  passed  the  last 
fortnight  in  examination  of  a  suitable  subject 
for  historical  composition,  looking  over  cata 
logues,  references,  etc.  It  is  well  to  determine 
with  caution  and  accurate  inspection." 

Soon  he  began  to  hear  Spain  calling.  By 
Christmas  of  the  same  year  he  was  writ 
ing  :- 

"  I  have  been  hesitating  between  two  topics 
for  historical  investigation  —  Spanish  history 
from  the  invasion  of  the  Arabs  to  the  consoli 
dation  of  the  monarchy  under  Charles  V,  or 
a  history  of  the  revolution  of  ancient  Kome, 


76        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

which  converted  the  republic  into  an  empire. 
A  third  subject  which  invites  me  is  a  bio 
graphical  sketch  of  eminent  geniuses,  with 
criticisms  on  their  productions  and  on  the 
character  of  their  age.  I  shall  probably  select 
the  first,  as  less  difficult  of  execution  than  the 
second,  and  as  more  novel  and  entertaining  than 
the  last." 

But  the  full  spell  of  the  Peninsula  was  not 
yet  upon  him.  He  wavered  and  deliberated 
afresh.  This  he  did  not  mind.  "I  care  not 
how  long  a  time  I  take  for  it,  provided  I  am 
diligent  all  that  time."  Again  he  canvassed 
the  Eoman  theme.  But  on  January  1,  1826, 
he  wrote :  — 

"  The  great  and  learned  Niebuhr  has  been 
employed  these  dozen  years  upon  it.  ... 
Shall  I  beat  the  bushes  after  this?  I  have 
not  quite  decided,  but  I  think  not." 

January  8,  1826.  "  I  have  decided  to  aban 
don  the  Roman  subject." 

Under  the  same  date  he  recorded :  — 

"  A  work  on  the  revolutions  of  Italian  lit 
erature  has  invited  my  consideration  this 
week.  ...  It  would  not  be  new  after  the 


THE   QUEST  OF  A  THEME  77 

production  of  Sismondi  and  the  abundant 
notices  in  modern  Reviews.  Literary  history 
is  not  so  amusing  as  civil.  Cannot  I  contrive 
to  embrace  the  gist  of  the  Spanish  subject 
without  involving  myself  in  the  unwieldy,  bar 
barous  records  of  a  thousand  years  ?  What 
new  and  interesting  topics  may  be  admitted 
—  not  forced  —  into  the  reigns  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella?  ...  A  Biography  will  make 
me  responsible  for  a  limited  space  only  ;  will 
require  much  less  reading  (a  great  considera 
tion  with  me)  ;  will  offer  the  deeper  interest 
which  always  attaches  to  minute  developments 
of  character,  and  a  continuous,  closely  con 
nected  narrative.  .  .  .  The  age  of  Ferdinand 
is  most  important  as  containing  the  germs  of 
the  modern  system  of  European  politics.  .  .  . 
It  is  in  every  respect  an  interesting  and  mo 
mentous  period  of  history ;  the  materials  am 
ple,  authentic,  —  I  will  chew  upon  this  matter, 
and  decide  this  week." 

More  than  twenty  years  later,  a  penciled 
note  on  the  foregoing  passage  ran,  "  This  was 
the  first  germ  of  my  conception  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella."  He  was  now  hot  on  the  scent. 


78        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Yet  he  made  further  faults.  On  January  15, 
1826,  lie  was  "  still  doubting."  He  thought 
the  Italian  subject  had  "  some  advantages  over 
the  Spanish."  He  had  the  matter  better  in 
hand.  He  had  fleshed  his  pen  upon  it  already. 
His  "  capacity  for  doing  justice  to  the  other 
subject"  he  questioned.  Still  "the  Spanish 
subject  will  be  more  new  than  the  Italian ;  " 
"  more  interesting  to  the  majority  of  readers, 
more  useful  to  me  by  opening  another  and 
more  practical  department  of  study."  He  would 
need  a  "  preliminary  year  "  of  investigation  to 
make  sure  of  his  ground,  but  "  on  the  whole, 
the  inconvenience  of  that  was  overbalanced  by 
the  advantages  of  the  Spanish  topic." 

Consequently,  on  January  19,  1826,  Pres- 
cott  wrote,  "  I  subscribe  to  the  '  History  of  the 
Keign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.'"  Over 
against  this  entry  he  set,  in  1847,  the  note, 
"  A  fortunate  choice." 

But  it  had  many  times  to  be  renewed  and 
confirmed,  after  repeated  vacillation.  Almost 
at  the  beginning  of  plans  for  amassing  mate 
rial  and  laying  out  his  campaign,  he  was  smit 
ten  with  an  access  of  inflammation  in  his  eye, 


THE  QUEST  OF  A  THEME  79 

and  for  four  months  had  to  pass  all  his  time 
in  a  dark  room.  But  his  resolution  was  not 
shaken.  He  had  himself  read  to  from  four  to 
six  hours  a  day  by  his  secretary.  "  Traveling 
with  this  lame  gait,  I  may  yet  hope  in  five 
or  six  years  to  reach  the  goal."  But  a  little 
later  hesitation  reappears.  On  October  1,  he 
wrote :  — 

"  As  it  may  probably  be  some  years  before 
I  shall  be  able  to  use  my  own  eyes  in  study, 
or  even  find  a  suitable  person  to  read  foreign 
languages  to  me,  I  have  determined  to  post 
pone  my  Spanish  subject,  and  to  occupy  my 
self  with  an  '  Historical  Survey  of  English 
Literature.'  The  subject  has  never  been  dis 
cussed  as  a  whole,  and  therefore  would  be 
somewhat  new,  and,  if  well  conducted,  popu 
lar.  But  the  great  argument  with  me  is,  that, 
while  it  is  a  subject  with  which  my  previous 
studies  have  made  me  tolerably  acquainted  and 
have  furnished  me  with  abundance  of  analo 
gies  in  foreign  literatures,  it  is  one  which  I 
may  investigate  nearly  as  well  with  my  ears 
as  with  my  eyes,  and  it  will  not  be  difficult 
to  find  good  readers  in  the  English,  though 


80        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

extremely  difficult  in  any  foreign  language. 
Faustum  sit." 

It  required,  however,  only  five  weeks  of  re 
connoitring  the  new  fortress  to  convince  him 
that  the  old  one  was  his  true  point  of  attack. 
The  record  for  November  5,  1826,  is,  "  I  have 
again,  and  I  trust  finally,  determined  to  prose 
cute  my  former  subject,  the  Reign  of  Ferdi 
nand  and  Isabella." 

But  the  last  doubt  was  not  yet  vanquished. 
As  late  as  June  7,  1828, 1  find  this  record  :  — 

"  Renewed  studies  in  Italian  literature  make 
me  hesitate  whether  I  should  not  prefer  it  as 
a  matter  of  history  to  the  Spanish  subject 
which  I  had  already  chosen." 

In  two  weeks  the  pendulum  had  swung  back 
again :  — 

June  22.  "  I  confirm  my  previous  decision. 
.  .  .  Shame  on  my  doubtings,  delays,  and 
idleness ! " 

At  last,  — 

July  3,  1828.  "  Finally,  for  the  hundredth 
time,  after  a  full  and  accurate  reflection  on  the 
whole  matter,  I  confirm  my  preference  and 
choice  of  the  Spanish  subject." 


THE  QUEST  OF  A  THEME  81 

After  that  date,  no  trace  of  relaxed  purpose 
is  to  be  found.  To  use  one  of  Prescott's  favor 
ite  quotations, 

"  Rapido  ma  rapido  con  leggi," 

he  thereafter  pressed  on  with  the  ten  years  of 
labor  which  went  to  the  making  of  "  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella." 

At  this  point  may  be  most  conveniently 
mentioned  several  literary  projects  which  Pres- 
cott,  in  later  years,  was  urged  to  take  up,  but 
all  of  which  he  declined. 

Richard  Ford,  writing  to  Sumner,  July  1, 
1839,  after  telling  him  that  he  might  "  well 
be  proud  of  your  countryman  "  for  his  "  Ferdi 
nand  and  Isabella,"  —  "  this  accession  to  Eng 
lish  literature,  "  —  added :  — 

"  I  have  ventured  to  suggest  to  him  a  new 
subject,  an  inquiry  into  the  condition  of  the 
middle  classes  and  people  of  Spain  from  the 
fourteenth  to  the  seventeenth  centuries.  He  is, 
I  conceive,  admirably  calculated  to  undertake 
this  interesting  theme ;  I  know  no  modern  au 
thor  of  greater  perseverance,  research,  and  ac 
curacy,  nor  one  possessing  his  talent  of  placing 
facts  agreeably  and  truly  before  his  reader." 


82         WILLIAM  HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

On  June  20,  1844,  Benjamin  F.  French,  of 
New  Orleans,  addressed  a  letter  to  Prescott, 
urging  him  to  write  the  history  of  Louisiana. 
The  attraction  of  the  subject,  and  its  relation 
to  Prescott's  own  field,  were  duly  set  forth, 
together  with  an  offer  to  put  the  writer's  col 
lection  of  material  —  including  some  rare 
works  —  at  the  historian's  disposal. 

Professor  Moses  Stuart  of  Andover  sent 
Prescott  a  complimentary,  yet  discriminating, 
letter,  praising  his  history  as  having  "  all  the 
ease  and  grace  and  pleasant  flow  of  Hume 
without  Jris  shallowness  ;  and  all  the  depth  and 
accuracy  and  thoroughness  of  Gibbon  without 
his  periodical  swell  and  buskined  gait,"  and 
earnestly  advising  him  to  take  up  some  part 
of  the  history  of  his  own  country,  or  even  of 
Massachusetts  alone,  for  his  next  work. 

Prescott's  most  tempting  offer  of  the  sort 
came  to  him  in  1848.  It  was  a  proposal  that 
he  should  write  the  history  of  the  second  Con 
quest  of  Mexico,  —  that  by  General  Scott  in 
1847.  In  his  journal  for  July  25,  1848,  he 
noted  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Charles  King 
of  New  York  making  the  suggestion  on  behalf 


THE  QUEST  OF  A  THEME  83 

of  General  Scott,  "offering  me  all  his  own 
papers,  etc."  But  he  declined.  "  The  theme 
would  be  taking  ;  but  I  had  rather  not  meddle 
with  heroes  who  have  not  been  underground 
two  centuries  at  least."  As  he  later  wrote  to 
Ticknor,  "  I  belong  to  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  am  quite  out  of  place  when  I  sleep  else 
where."  With  rare  fidelity  to  his  resolution 
once  made,  or  possibly  with  a  more  accurate 
measure  of  his  own  powers  than  his  corre 
spondents  had,  he  refused  to  be  drawn  aside. 
Invitations  to  deliver  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
address  at  Harvard,  or  to  read  a  paper  before 
the  National  Institute  at  Washington,  were 
declined.  In  self-imposed  limitation  the  master 
displayed  himself. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
"FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA" 

THE  task  in  hours  of  insight  willed  was  ful 
filled  in  years  of  unhasting,  unresting  toil. 
"  Completed  the  corrections  and  arrangement," 
was  the  record  in  the  diary  of  October  26, 
1836.  "  Thus  ends  the  labor  of  ten  years,  for 
I  have  been  occupied  with  it  ...  since  the 
summer  of  1826."  But  publishing  was  still 
deferred.  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  "  appeared 
at  Christmas,  1837,  with  the  year  1838  on  the 
title-page.  Indeed,  Prescott  was  almost  indif 
ferent  to  publishing  at  all.  He  seems  to  have 
been  stung  to  it  by  a  remark  of  his  father's. 
"  The  man,"  said  Judge  Prescott,  "  who  writes 
a  book  which  he  is  afraid  to  publish  is  a  cow 
ard."  That  was  a  challenge  to  fighting  blood. 
Thereafter  let  the  presses  beware.  The  histo 
rian  had  before  set  down  for  his  own  eye 
another  motive  for  publication.  "  It  is  a  satis 
factory  evidence  to  my  mind,"  was  the  entry 


FERDINAND   AND  ISABELLA  85 

of  June  26,  1836,  "of  my  moderate  anticipa 
tions  .  .  .  that  I  feel  not  only  no  desire  but  a 
reluctance  to  publish,  and  should  probably  keep 
it  by  me  for  emendations  and  additions  at 
my  leisure,  were  it  not  for  the  belief  that  the 
ground  would  be  more  or  less  occupied  in  the 
meantime  by  abler  writers.  I  hear  already  of 
Southey's  preparation  for  a  history  of  the 
Spanish  Arabs,  and  it  warns  me  not  to  defer 
my  own  publication." 

Further  citations  from  his  reflections  of  the 
same  date  show  how  he  fared  through  his  long 
work,  and  how  he  profited  by  it. 

"  Pursuing  the  work  in  this  quiet,  leisurely 
way,  without  over-exertion  or  fatigue,  or  any 
sense  of  obligation  to  complete  it  in  a  given 
time,  I  have  found  it  a  continual  source  of 
pleasure.  It  has  furnished  food  for  my  medi 
tations,  has  given  a  direction  and  object  to  my 
scattered  reading,  and  supplied  me  with  regular 
occupation  for  hours  that  would  otherwise  have 
filled  me  with  ennui.  I  have  found  infinite 
variety  in  the  study,  moreover,  which  might  at 
first  sight  seem  monotonous.  No  historical 
labors,  rightly  conducted,  can  be  monotonous, 


86        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

since  they  afford  all  the  variety  of  pursuing  a 
chain  of  facts  to  unforeseen  consequences,  of 
comparing  doubtful  and  contradictory  testi 
mony,  of  picturesque  delineations  of  incident, 
and  of  analysis  and  dramatic  exhibition  of 
character.  The  plain  narrative  may  be  some- 
tunes  relieved  by  general  views  or  critical  dis 
cussions,  and  the  story  and  the  actors,  as  they 
grow  under  the  hands,  acquire  constantly  addi 
tional  interest.  It  may  seem  dreary  work  to 
plod  through  barbarous  old  manuscript  chron 
icles  of  monks  and  pedants,  but  this  takes  up 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  time,  and  even  here, 
read  aloud  to,  as  I  have  been,  required  such 
close  attention  as  always  made  the  time  pass 
glibly.  In  short,  although  I  have  sometimes 
been  obliged  to  whip  myself  up  to  the  work,  I 
have  never  fairly  got  into  it  without  deriving 
pleasure  from  it,  and  I  have  most  generally 
gone  to  it  with  pleasure,  and  left  it  with  regret. 
"  What  do  I  expect  from  it,  now  it  is  done  ? 
And  may  it  not  be  all  in  vain  and  labor  lost, 
after  all  ?  My  expectations  are  not  such,  if  I 
know  myself,  as  to  expose  me  to  any  serious 
disappointment.  I  do  not  flatter  myself  with 


FERDINAND   AND   ISABELLA  87 

the  idea  that  I  have  achieved  anything  very 
profound,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  that  will  be 
very  popular.  I  know  myself  too  well  to  sup 
pose  the  former  for  a  moment.  I  know  the 
public  too  well,  and  the  subject  I  have  chosen, 
to  expect  the  latter.  But  I  have  made  a  book 
illustrating  an  unexplored  and  important  pe 
riod,  from  authentic  materials,  obtained  with 
much  difficulty,  and  probably  in  the  possession 
of  no  one  library,  public  or  private,  in  Europe. 
As  a  plain,  veracious  record  of  facts,  the 
work,  therefore,  till  some  one  else  shall  be 
found  to  make  a  better  one,  will  fill  up  a  gap 
in  literature  which,  I  should  hope,  would  give 
it  a  permanent  value,  —  a  value  founded  on 
its  utility,  though  bringing  no  great  fame  or 
gain  to  its  author. 

"  Come  to  the  worst,  and  suppose  the  thing 
a  dead  failure,  and  the  book  born  only  to  be 
damned.  Still  it  will  not  be  all  in  vain,  since 
it  has  encouraged  me  in  forming  systematic 
habits  of  intellectual  occupation,  and  proved 
to  me  that  my  greatest  happiness  is  to  be  the 
result  of  such.  It  is  no  little  matter  to  be  pos 
sessed  of  this  conviction  from  experience," 


88        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

It  had  been  no  holiday  task.  At  its  end, 
Prescott  breathed  like  a  spent  swimmer  reach 
ing  shore :  — 

"  The  discouragements  under  which  I  have 
labored  have  nearly  determined  me,  more  than 
once,  to  abandon  the  enterprise.  ...  I  be 
gan  with  teaching  a  reader  to  pronounce  the 
Spanish  so  that  I  could  comprehend  him,  and 
in  this  way  went  through  several  quartos,  of 
which  my  reader  himself  understood  no  more 
than  he  did  of  the  Chaldaic.  ...  I  have  been 
about  seven  years  and  a  half.  .  .  .  Had  I 
possessed  the  industrious  habits  of  a  Southey 
or  Sparks  ...  I  could  have  accomplished 
the  work  in  much  less  time.  But  I  was  neither 
driven  by  necessity  nor  ambition  to  extra  exer 
tions,  writing,  as  the  old  Fortiguerra  says,  — 

'  Per  fuggir  ozio,  4  non  per  cercar  gloria.' " 

The  three  stout  volumes  were  published  by 
the  American  Stationer's  Company  of  Boston. 
The  contract  was  practically  at  author's  risk. 
A  simultaneous  London  edition  was  desired  by 
Prescott.  But  for  a  time  his  efforts  to  secure 
an  English  publisher  were  in  vain.  In  that 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA  89 

respect,  the  fate  of  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  " 
threatened  to  become  another  example  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  rejected.  Murray  per 
emptorily  declined  the  work.  Longman  took  " 
time  to  look  at  it,  but  likewise  refused  in  the 
end.  Prescott  was  mortified  and  despairing. 
But  his  indefatigable  friend,  Colonel  Aspin- 
wall,  persisted,  and  finally  made  an  arrangement 
with  Bentley.  The  history  was  to  be  elegantly 
printed,  "  with  engravings,  vignettes,  etc.,"  and 
profits  were  to  be  divided.  Prescott's  chagrin 
changed  to  joy,  and  he  wrote  to  Ticknor  :  — 

"  My  object  is  now  attained.  I  shall  bring 
out  the  book  in  the  form  I  desired,  and  under 
the  most  respectable  auspices  on  both  sides 
of  the  water,  and  in  a  way  which  must  interest 
the  publisher  so  deeply  as  to  secure  his  exer 
tions  to  circulate  the  work.  My  bark  will  be 
fairly  launched,  and  if  it  should  be  doomed  to 
encounter  a  spiteful  puff  or  two  of  criticism,  I 
trust  it  may  weather  it." 

While  on  the  material  side  of  "  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,"  it  will  be  of  both  personal  and 
historical  interest  to  give  Prescott's  own  ac 
count  of  the  technical  and  pecuniary  aspects  of 


90        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

his  publishing  venture.  The  minute  analysis 
which  he  made  of  the  whole  affair  reveals  a 
practical  talent  which  few  would  suspect  in 
him.  Evidently,  if  he  had  not  been  a  famous 
historian,  he  could  have  been  a  successful  busi 
ness  man.  Here  is  the  proof :  — 

"  REMARKS  ON  THE  PRINTING  AND  PUBLICATION  OF 
'  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.'  " 

"  I  wiU  now  [April  30,  1838]  give  an  ac 
count  of  my  arrangements  for  the  publication 
of  my  history.  In  the  first  place  I  had  the 
manuscript  printed  here  by  Dickinson,  four 
copies  only,  for  myself. 

First  part  831  pages Cost  $187.84 

Second  "    807      "  &  16  pp.  contents     "       228.01 
Notes  of  last  chapter   &   reprint  P.    I. 

Chap.l 40.25 

$456.10 
An  expense  I  shall  never  incur  again. 

The  cost  of  the  whole  stands  thus : 

Paid  to  Folsom,  Wells  and  Thiirston  for 

plates,  extra  corrections  included       $2143.90 
"  Andrews  for  one  engraving       .     .  400. 

"  Stone          "  two          "     .     .     .     .  160. 

"  Sibley        "  making  index    .     .     .  100. 

$2803.90 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA  91 

If  to  these  I  add  : 

Paid  Flagg  for  portrait  of  Isabella  for 

Andrews 40. 

"  Dickinson  for  first  printed  copy       .  456. 

Finally  for  cost  Spanish  books  and  MS.  1200. 


$4499.90 

"  Of  this,  $1000  for  Spanish  works  was 
defrayed  by  my  father,  so  that  I  was  out  of 
pocket,  by  the  expenses  of  publication  $ 3500. 

"  Remarks.  I  never  regarded  the  cost  of  the 
affair,  for  I  should  not  have  selected  such  a 
topic  with  the  idea  of  making  money.  But,  as 
I  have  gained  some  experience  ...  I  shall 
note  a  few  hints  for  my  future  government." 
There  follow  pages  of  minute  analysis,  worthy 
a  book  publisher.  "  One  cost  I  shall  never 
count  —  i.  e.,  reasonably  speaking —  the  cost 
of  original  and  authentic  materials."  "  Such 
sort  of  works  as  I  shall  be  likely  hereafter  to 
turn  out  —  not  works  of  great  and  various  re 
search."  Penciled .  margin  :  "  Perhaps  I  may. 
In  which  case  I  have  cramped  too  close." 

"  But,  after  all,  although  I  note  down  these 
estimates  that,  in  my  future  calculations  and 
bargains  I  may  have  something  to  guide  me 


92        WILLIAM  H1CKLING  PRESCOTT 

with  the  slippery  '  trade,'  yet  I  trust  I  shall 
never  make  the  profit  the  main  object ;  and 
never  put  my  name  to  a  work  which  I  have 
not  made  as  good  as  I  can  make  it,  coute  que 
coute. 

"  Well,  now  for  the  result  in  America  and 
England  thus  far.  My  work  appeared  here  on 
the  25th  of  December,  1837.  Its  birth  had 
been  prepared  for  by  the  favorable  opinions, 
en  avance,  of  the  few  friends  who  in  its  pro 
gress  through  the  press  had  seen  it.  It  was 
corrected  previously  as  to  style,  etc.,  by  my 
friend  Gardiner,  who  bestowed  some  weeks, 
and  I  may  say  months,  on  its  careful  revision, 
and  who  suggested  many  important  alterations 
in  the  form.  Simonds  had  previously  suggested 
throwing  the  introductory  '  Section  2  '  on  Ara- 
gon  into  its  present  place,  it  first  having  occu 
pied  the  place  after  Chapter  III.  The  work 
was  indefatigably  corrected,  and  the  references 
most  elaborately  and  systematically  prepared 
by  Folsom.  .  .  . 

"  From  the  time  of  its  appearance  to  the  pre 
sent  date,  it  has  been  the  subject  of  notices, 
more  or  less  elaborate,  in  the  principal  re- 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA  93 

views  and  periodicals  of  the  country,  and  in  the 
mass  of  criticism  I  have  not  met  with  one  un 
kind,  or  sarcastic,  or  censorious  sentence ;  and 
my  critics  have  been  of  all  sorts,  from  stiff 
conservatives  to  leveling  loco-focos.  Much  of 
all  this  success  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  influ 
ence  and  exertions  of  personal  friends,  much 
to  the  beautiful  dress  and  mechanical  execu 
tion  of  the  book,  —  and  much  to  the  novelty, 
in  our  country,  of  a  work  of  research  in  vari 
ous  foreign  languages.  The  topics,  too,  though 
not  connected  with  the  times,  have  novelty 
and  importance  in  them.  Whatever  is  the 
cause,  the  book  has  found  a  degree  of  favor 
not  dreamed  of  by  me  certainly,  nor  by  its 
warmest  friends.  It  will,  I  have  reason  to  hope, 
secure  me  an  honest  fame,  and  —  what  never 
entered  into  my  imagination  in  writing  it  — 
put,  in  the  long  run,  some  money  in  my 
pocket. 

"  In  Europe  things  wear  also  a  very  auspi 
cious  aspect  so  far.  The  weekly  periodicals  — 
the  lesser  lights  of  criticism  —  contain  the 
most  ample  commendations  on  the  book ;  sev 
eral  of  the  articles  being  written  with  spirit 


94        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

and  beauty.  How  extensively  the  trade  winds 
may  have  helped  me  along,  I  cannot  say.  But 
so  far  the  course  has  been  smooth  and  rapid. 
Bentley  speaks  to  my  friends  in  extravagant 
terms  of  the  book,  and  states  that  nearly  half 
the  edition,  which  was  of  ssven  hundred  and  fifty 
copies,  had  been  sold  by  the  end  of  March.  In 
France,  thanks  to  my  friend  Ticknor,  it  has 
been  put  into  the  hands  of  the  principal  savans 
in  the  Castilian.  Copies  have  also  been  sent 
to  some  eminent  scholars  in  Germany.  Thus 
far,  therefore,  we  run  before  the  wind,  and  I 
may  hope  the  book  has  got  such  headway  in 
the  good  opinion  of  the  public  that  should  an 
ugly  squall  strike  it  from  one  of  the  John  Bull 
reviews  of  larger  growth,  it  may  be  able  to 
weather  it." 

"  Well,  for  several  days  the  binder  was  un 
able  to  do  his  work  fast  enough,  and  the  vol 
umes  were  taken  off  as  fast  as  they  were 
delivered  to  the  good-natured  public.  In  short, 
three  fifths  of  the  edition  of  500  copies  were 
sold  in  Boston  before  a  copy  could  be  sent  to 
New  York.  The  whole  edition  was  exhausted 
in  five  weeks.  Since  that  another  impression 


FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA  95 

of  200  has  been  so  rapidly  disposed  of  that 
the  market  has  been  left  bare,  and  has  con 
tinued  bare  till  the  last  week,  for  now  more 
than  a  month,  to  the  serious  detriment  of  my 
pocket.  A  new  edition  has  appeared  this 
week.  .  .  .  The  book  .  .  .  will  now  be  dis 
tributed  more  extensively." 

May  23,  1838.  "  Before  leaving  Boston  I 
concluded  a  bargain  with  Little  and  Brown  — 
I  agreed  to  sell  them  1700  copies  of  the  His 
tory  at  $1.75  a  copy.  They  are  to  have  five 
years  and  a  half  to  dispose  of  them  ;  there 
being  about  400  copies  remaining  on  hand, 
at  the  time  of  making  the  contract,  of  those 
bought  of  the  Stationer's  Company.  By  this 
bargain  I  receive  $3000,  in  addition  to  the 
$1000  before  received,  within  six  years  from 
the  publication." 

It  is  no  part  of  the  writer's  plan  to  under 
take  epitomes  or  appreciations  of  Prescott's 
books.  That  would  be  to  fall  into  the  one  lit 
erary  fault  which  a  modern  reader  might  find 
in  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  "  — prolixity.  Its 
style  partook  of  the  leisurely  spirit  of  the 
author's  day.  Prescott  was  a  "  gentleman  of 


96        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

letters,"  —  as  Theodore  Parker  called  him,  "  a 
well-bred  gentleman  of  letters,"  —  and  rapidity 
of  movement  was  not  then  thought  to  go  well 
with  the  grand  manner.  Seldom  does  one  en 
counter  an  absolutely  stilted  passage  in  "  Fer 
dinand  and  Isabella,"  but  elegance  of  diction 
frequently  becomes  oppressive ;  and  elaborate 
comparisons  —  such  as  that  of  Isabella  with 
Queen  Elizabeth  —  are  pushed  with  a  dire 
thoroughness  upon  which  no  writer  would 
to-day  venture.  Yet  the  narrative  bears  re-read 
ing  wonderfully  well,  of  so  sustained  an  inter 
est  is  it,  so  high-bred  is  the  spirit  which  ani 
mates  it,  so  sound  and  wide  the  scholarship. 
Theodore  Parker,  with  his  habit  of  brandishing 
"  the  whole  tree  of  knowledge  torn  up  by  the 
roots,"  had  a  searching  review  of  "  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella "  in  the  "  Massachusetts  Quar 
terly  "  (II,  p.  215),  yet  he  did  not  impugn  Pres- 
cott's  learning.  A  later  critic,  Mr.  Justin  Win- 
sor,  made  the  somewhat  ill-natured  remark  that 
Prescott  thought  of  "  composing  history  to  be 
read  as  a  pastime,  rather  than  as  of  a  study 
of  completed  truth."  But  the  only  specifica 
tions  made  are  not  happy.  Look,  said  Mr. 


FERDINAND  AND   ISABELLA  97 

Winsor,  at  Prescott's  absurd  contention  that 
it  is  difficult  to  find  "  a  single  blemish  "  in  the 
moral  character  of  Columbus.  This  is  harshly 
characterized  as  "  flagrant  disregard  of  the 
truth."  Yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  one  has 
more  clearly  pointed  out  Columbus's  "  blem 
ishes  "  —  he  uses  the  very  word  —  than  Pres- 
<jott.  He  was  so  explicit  about  them  that  he 
felt  compelled  to  put  in  the  disclaimer,  "I 
trust  these  remarks  will  not  be  construed  into 
an  insensibility  to  the  merits  and  exalted  ser 
vices  of  Columbus  "  (II,  p.  481).  And  as  for 
Mr.  Winsor's  charge  that  Prescott  was  ready 
to  "  disguise  the  truth "  in  the  interest  of 
"  hero-worship,"  what  better  refutation  could 
there  be  than  the  historian's  frankness  con 
cerning  his  real  hero,  Gronsalvo  de  Cordoba  ? 
It  was  in  summing  up  the  character  of  that 
extraordinary  man  that  Prescott  wrote  :  "  His 
tory  has  no  warrant  to  tamper  with  right  and 
wrong,  or  to  brighten  the  character  of  its 
favorites  by  diminishing  one  shade  of  the  ab 
horrence  which  attaches  to  their  vices."  Pres 
cott's  love  of  truth  was  a  part  of  his  thorough 
ness.  On  his  death  it  was  said  of  him  by  one 


98        WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

most  competent  to  speak,  Jared  Sparks,  "  I 
know  of  no  historian,  in  any  age  or  language, 
whose  researches  into  the  materials  with  which 
he  was  to  work  have  been  so  extensive,  thor 
ough,  and  profound  as  those  of  Mr.  Prescott." 
This  it  was  that  won  for  "  Ferdinand  and  Isa 
bella  "  the  instant  recognition  of  scholars  the 
world  over.  Nor  can  that  be  taken  as  the  fond 
exaggeration  of  an  outgrown  erudition.  Thirty- 
six  years  later,  the  most  scholarly  review  of 
America,  calling  up  Prescott  for  readjudica- 
tion,  apropos  of  a  new  edition  of  his  works, 
said  that  "  notwithstanding  the  great  advance 
of  historical  science,  his  works  well  maintain 
their  high  rank  and  reputation."  Their  author 
"  knew  all  that  was  to  be  known  upon  the  sub 
ject  which  he  selected  to  write  upon.  .  .  .  His 
writings  .  .  .  may  well  count  upon  a  perma 
nent  rank  in  historical  literature.  .  .  .  He  is 
no  Thucydides,  or  Gibbon,  or  Mommsen,  or 
Ranke  ;  but,  giving  all  credit  to  the  historians 
who  have  done  honor  to  our  literature  since 
his  day,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  he  still 
stands  at  the  head."  ("  The  Nation,"  XVIII, 
pp.  252,  253.) 


CHAPTER  IX 
AWAKING  FAMOUS 

"  LOVE  of  the  author  gave  the  first  impetus. 
The  extraordinary  merits  of  the  work  did  all 
the  rest."  So  wrote  Prescott's  friend  and  con 
fidant,  Gardiner,  in  accounting  for  the  bril 
liant  bookselling  success  won  by  "  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella."  No  work  of  serious  scholarship 
had  ever  been  in  such  demand  in  America. 
No  American  historian  had  before  attained 
such  acclaim  from  the  judicious  in  Europe. 
As  Gardiner  said,  the  fame  of  the  author  be 
gan  in  Boston,  where  he  had  been  chiefly 
known  as  a  social  favorite.  His  personal  pop 
ularity  was  unbounded,  though  his  literary 
labors  had  been  known  to  but  a  few  of  his 
intimate  friends.  Ticknor  believed  that  not 
more  than  two  persons  outside  the  Prescott 
family  were  aware  that  he  was  writing  "  Fer 
dinand  and  Isabella  "  until  it  was  nearly  com 
pleted.  The  journal  early  betrayed  the  secre- 


100       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

tive  habit.  "  Nor  shall  any  one  else  if  I  can 
help  it,  know  that  I  am  writing."  Hence  it 
could  happen  that  even  a  near  relative,  whom 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  meeting  weekly,  once 
urged  him  to  undertake  some  serious  pursuit, 
as  a  means  both  of  happiness  and  social  re 
pute  !  At  the  moment  he  had  spent  eight 
years  on  his  first  great  work.  One  is  reminded 
of  the  nurse  who  thought  Darwin's  health 
would  be  better  if  he  only  had  something  to 
occupy  his  mind.  All  the  greater,  however, 
the  stir  in  Prescott's  circle  when  the  book 
finally  came  out.  Its  appearance  was  a  society 
"event."  There  was  a  rush  to  secure  early 
copies.  "  A  convivial  friend,"  writes  Gardi 
ner,  "  who  was  far  from  being  a  man  of  let 
ters,  —  indeed,  a  person  who  rarely  read  a 
book,  —  got  up  early  in  the  morning  and  went 
to  wait  for  the  opening  of  the  publisher's 
shop,  so  as  to  secure  the  first  copy."  The 
work  became  the  fashionable  Christmas  pre 
sent  of  the  season.  Such  a  thing  it  was,  as 
Prescott  wrote,  to  have  the  advantage  of  the 
"  exertions  of  those  whom  I  have  thought  and 
now  find  to  be  friends." 


AWAKING  FAMOUS  101 

By  all  this  sudden  blaze  of  popularity  and 
even  fame  the  author's  head  was  not  turned. 
Prescott  was,  in  fact,  always  singularly  well 
poised  in  the  matter  of  praise.  He  valued  it ; 
he  was  pleased  by  it ;  but  he  never  allowed  it 
to  make  him  forget  his  own  standards.  His 
letter  to  his  friend  Ticknor,  ten  days  after 
"  Ferdinand  and  Isabella "  was  published, 
shows  how  he  took  success,  as  he  would  un 
doubtedly  have  taken  failure,  with  a  quiet 
mind :  — 

"  Their  Catholic  Highnesses  have  just  been 
ushered  into  the  world  in  three  royal  octavos. 
The  bantling  appeared  on  a  Christmas  morn 
ing,  and  certainly  has  not  fallen  still-born,  but 
is  alive  and  kicking  merrily.  How  long  its 
life  may  last  is  another  question.  Within  the 
first  ten  days  half  the  first  edition  of  five  hun 
dred  copies  (for  the  publishers  were  afraid  to 
risk  a  larger  one  for  our  market)  has  been  dis 
posed  of,  and  they  are  now  making  prepara 
tions  for  a  second  edition,  having  bought  of 
me  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  copies.  The  sale, 
indeed,  seems  quite  ridiculous,  and  I  fancy 
many  a  poor  soul  thinks  so  by  this  time.  .  .  . 


102       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

In  the  mean  time  the  small  journals  have 
opened  quite  a  cry  in  my  favor,  and  while  one 
of  yesterday  claims  me  as  a  Bostonian,  a  Salem 
paper  asserts  that  distinguished  honor  for  the 
witch-town.  So  you  see  I  am  experiencing  the 
fate  6f  the  Great  Obscure,  even  in  my  own 
lifetime.  And  a  clergyman  told  me  yesterday, 
he  intended  to  make  my  case  —  the  obstacles 
I  have  encountered  and  overcome  —  the  sub 
ject  of  a  sermon.  I  told  him  it  would  help  to 
sell  the  book  at  all  events. 

"  '  Poor  fellow  ! '  —  I  hear  you  exclaim  by 
this  time,  — '  his  wits  are  actually  turned  by 
this  flurry  in  his  native  village,  —  the  Yankee 
Athens ! '  Not  a  whit,  I  assure  you.  Am  I 
not  writing  to  two  dear  friends,  to  whom  I  can 
talk  as  freely  and  foolishly  as  to  one  of  my 
own  household,  and  who,  I  am  sure,  will  not 
misunderstand  me  ?  The  effect  of  all  this  — 
which  a  boy  at  Dr.  Gardiner's  school,  I  re 
member,  called  fungum  popularitatem  —  has 
been  rather  to  depress  me,  and  S was  say 
ing  yesterday,  that  she  had  never  known  me  so 
out  of  spirits  as  since  the  book  has  come  out. 
The  truth  is,  I  appreciate,  more  than  my 


AWAKING  FAMOUS  103 

critics  can  do,  the  difficulty  of  doing  justice  to 
my  subject,  and  the  immeasurable  distance  be 
tween  me  and  the  models  with  which  they  have 
been  pleased  to  compare  me.  ...  A  favor 
able  notice  in  a  Parisian  journal  of  respecta 
bility  would  be  worth  a  good  deal.  But,  after 
all,  my  market  and  my  reputation  rest  princi 
pally  with  England,  and  if  your  influence  can 
secure  me,  not  a  friendly,  but  a  fair  notice 
there,  in  any  of  the  three  or  four  leading  jour 
nals,  it  would  be  the  best  thing  you  ever  did 
for  me,  —  and  that  is  no  small  thing  to  say. 
But  I  am  asking  what  you  will  do  without 
asking,  if  any  foreigner  could  hope  to  have 
such  influence.  I  know  that  the  fiat  of  criti 
cism  now-a-days  depends  quite  as  much  on  the 
temper  and  character  of  the  reviewer  as  the 
reviewed,  and,  in  a  work  filled  with  facts  dug 
out  of  barbarous  and  obsolete  idioms,  it  will 
be  easy  to  pick  flaws  and  serve  them  up  as 
a  sample  of  the  whole.  But  I  will  spare  you 
further  twaddle  about  their  Catholic  High 
nesses." 

An  entry  in  the  journal  of  December  25, 
1838,  —  one   year    after    the    publication   of 


104      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

"Ferdinand  and  Isabella,"  —  reveals  the  his 
torian's  sanity  as  well  as  could  pages :  — 

"  Dr.  Channing  (the  Dr.  that  preaches,  not 
he  that  practises)  said  last  evening  « It  ["  Fer 
dinand  and  Isabella"]  has  been  received  by 
acclamation.'  Yet  I  am  not  such  an  ass  as  not 
to  know  that  fires  which  blaze  up  the  quickest 
are  soonest  out.  But  if  I  be  an  ass  of  an  histo 
rian,  the  public  are  greater  asses  to  have  en 
dorsed  me  —  that 's  some  comfort." 

European  recognition  came  swift  and  full. 
This  was  naturally  more  gratifying  to  Prescott 
than  the  acclamation  of  personal  friends,  or 
acknowledgments  possibly  dictated  by  patri 
otic  prejudice.  As  the  historian  privately 
noted  at  a  later  date :  "  These  tributes  from 
another  quarter  of  the  world,  without  the  bias 
of  national  partiality,  come  like  the  voice  of 
posterity,  not  to  be  bribed  or  bought."  Many 
details  are  given  by  Ticknor  of  the  immediate 
admission  of  Prescott  to  the  company  of  Euro 
pean  scholars.  The  English  reviews  gave  their 
prompt  applause.  Hallam,  Milman,  Ford  were 
enthusiastic.  Nor  were  continental  savants 
backward  in  offering  their  suffrages.  By 


AWAKING  FAMOUS  105 

printed  review  and  private  letters  —  the  latter 
leading  in  some  cases,  to  friendly  correspond 
ence  long  sustained  —  they  hailed  Prescott  as 
an  equal  in  learning.  The  Comte  de  Cir- 
court,  Sismondi,  Tocqueville,  Humboldt  (later), 
Thierry,  pressed  forward  with  their  compli  men  ts. 
Learned  societies  showered  their  membership 
upon  him.  The  total  of  these,  American  and 
foreign,  is,  as  I  reckon  from  the  somewhat 
confused  data  accessible,  thirty-three.  In  his 
private  note  on  two  of  them,  —  the  Royal 
Society  of  Literature,  London,  and  the  Eng 
lish  Society  of  Antiquaries,  Prescott  wrote : 
"  The  first  I  share  with  Bancroft  —  the  last 
with  no  other  Yankee." 

To  round  out  this  account  of  Prescott's 
European  fame,  may  be  conveniently  grouped 
here  letters  which  came  in  the  course  of  sev 
eral  years  after  "Ferdinand  and  Isabella." 
They  are  additional  to  those  printed  by  Tick- 
nor.  Let  this  from  Hallam  lead  off :  — 

WIMPOLE  STREET,  LONDON, 

June  1,  1838. 

DEAR  SIR,  —  I  avail  myself  of  the  return 
of  our  acquaintance,  Mr.  Ticknor,  to  America, 


106       WILLIAM  HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

a  circumstance  which  in  itself  I  regret,  to 
thank  you  for  the  very  obliging  present  I  re 
ceived  through  his  hands  of  your  valuable 
history  of  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella."  It  does 
much  honour  to  your  research,  taste,  and  judg 
ment,  and  reflects  credit  on  the  literature  of 
your  native  country.  The  period  of  history  is 
so  important  and  interesting  that  I  expect 
your  work  to  acquire  by  degrees  a  classical 
reputation.  It  is  well  spoken  of  by  those  who 
have  read  it  here,  but  a  book  published  in  a 
foreign  country,  though  there  may  be  an  Eng 
lish  edition  of  it,  does  not  make  its  way  very 
rapidly. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  from  Mr.  Ticknor  that 
your  eyesight  is  so  much  restored  as  to  give 
us  hope  of  fresh  labors  in  the  vineyard  of 
letters. 

Believe  me,  Dear  Sir, 
Your  much  obliged  and  faithful  servant, 

HENRY  HALLAM. 

"This,"  noted  Prescott,  "is  gratifying 
enough  from  one  at  the  head  of  the  craft,  and 
a  writer  whom  Sir  J.  Mackintosh  notices  as 


AWAKING   FAMOUS  107 

singularly  parsimonious  of  his  commendation. 
Gibbon  says  in  his  Memoirs,  '  A  letter  from 
Mr.  Hume  overpaid  the  labors  of  ten  years.' 
Without  such  extravagance,  I  may  truly  say, 
no  letter  that  I  ever  received  in  reference  to 
my  writings  has  given  me  more  satisfaction. 
It  is  one  of  the  rewards  of  the  scholar,  and  no 
mean  one." 

Prescott's  intimacy  with  Sumner  will  be 
dwelt  on  in  another  connection.  When  abroad 
in  1839,  the  latter  acted  as  a  kind  of  purveyor 
of  praise  to  his  friend  Prescott,  by  means  of 
letters  to  George  S.  Hillard. 

For  example :  — 

December  25,  1838. 

I  believe  I  mentioned  to  you  that  Mr. 
Elphinstone  praised  Prescott's  work  extrava 
gantly.  He  is  called  the  cleverest  man  in  Eng 
land,  and  has  twice  refused  the  Governor- 
Generalship  of  India.  He  is  a  delightful 
person. 

January  6,  1839. 

You  will  read  the  article  on  Prescott  in  the 
"  Edinburgh."  It  is  written  by  somebody  who 


108       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

understands  the  subject,  and  who  praises  with 
great  discrimination.  Some  of  my  friends  sup 
pose  it  was  done  by  John  Allen,  the  friend  of 
Lord  Holland.  Mr.  Hallam,  however,  thought 
it  was  not  by  him  but  by  a  Spaniard  who  is  in 
England.  I  shall  undoubtedly  be  able  to  let 
you  know  by  my  next  letter.  Mr.  Ford,  the 
writer  of  the  Spanish  articles  in  the  "  Quar 
terly,"  has  undertaken  to  review  Prescott's 
book  for  that  journal.  Whether  his  article  will 
be  ready  for  the  next  number  I  cannot  tell. 
Prescott  ought  to  be  happy  in  his  honorable 
fame.  I  do  not  go  anywhere  that  I  do  not  hear 
him  spoken  of.  His  publisher,  Bentley,  is 
about  to  publish  a  second  edition  in  two  vol 
umes,  and  he  told  me  that  he  regarded  the 
work  as  the  most  important  he  had  ever  pub 
lished,  and  as  one  which  would  carry  his 
humble  name  to  posterity.  Think  of  Bentley 
astride  of  the  shoulders  of  Prescott  on  the 
journey  to  posterity !  Milman  told  me  that  he 
thought  it  the  greatest  work  that  had  yet  pro 
ceeded  from  America.  Mr.  Wishaw,  who  is 
now  blind  and  who  was  the  bosom  friend  of 
Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  has  had  it  read  to  him, 


AWAKING  FAMOUS  109 

and  says  that  Lord  Holland  calls  it  the  most 
important  historical  work  since  Gibbon.  I 
have  heard  Hallam  speak  of  it  repeatedly,  and 
Harness  and  Rogers  and  a  great  many  others 
I  might  mention  if  I  had  more  time  and  I 
thought  you  had  more  patience. 

In  a  letter  of  Simmer's  to  Dr.  Palfrey  in 
Cambridge,  we  read :  — 

"  Prescott  has  by  one  step  taken  his  place 
at  the  head  of  American  literature.  He  has 
had  the  best  kind  of  success.  His  work  has 
been  read  by  all  the  best  educated  people  in 
England.  I  have  seen  it  in  the  halls  of  the 
nobility  and  on  the  tables  and  shelves  of  liter 
ary  men.  His  name  is  already  known  as  Rob 
ertson's  and  Hallam's.  I  think  no  historical 
work  has  ever  so  soon  succeeded  in  England 
before." 

Prescott  comments  on  the  above  in  his  jour 
nal:  — 

"With  the  most  liberal  allowance  for  the 
obvious  —  though,  of  course,  unintentional  — 
over-statement,  there  remains  enough  to  show 
that  the  work  has  been  received  with  a  degree 


•'itf}"' 

or  -H 


110       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

of  favor  by  the  British  public  which  I  cer 
tainly  neither  did  nor  could  have  had  any  right 
to  anticipate." 

Miss  Edgeworth  early  conceived  a  great 
admiration  for  Prescoto.  She  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Ticknor :  — 

August  23,  1844. 

.  .  .  Prescott's  "History  of  Mexico"  -I 
am  charmed  with  it;  so  much  so  that  after 
having  read  it  to  myself  when  I  was  recovering 
from  illness,  I  begged  to  hear  it  read  over 
again  as  soon  as  I  had  finished  it,  that  I  might 
reenjoy  the  pleasure  and  the  super-added  of 
the  effect  on  all  my  family. 

Under  date  of  September  20,  1844,  Mr. 
W.  B.  Sprague  sends  to  Prescott  an  extract 
from  a  letter  he  had  just  received  from  Maria 
Edgeworth :  — 

"  I  have  said  nothing  of  the  books  we  have 
been  reading — I  should  have  told  you  that  we 
have  been  reading  Prescott's  '  Conquest  of 
Mexico,'  —  the,  most  interesting  book  I  have 
seen  this  century." 

A  later  letter  came  direct :  — 


AWAKING  FAMOUS  111 

EDGEWORTHS  TOWN,  August  25, 1845. 

With  feelings  of  the  greatest  respect  and 
admiration  for  Mr.  Prescott's  talents  and  char 
acter  I  take  the  liberty  of  writing  to  him 
though  I  am  personally  a  stranger. 

I  inclose  to  him  a  catalogue  and  account  of 
a  series  of  Spanish  pictures,  the  subjects  taken 
from  the  Mexican  Conquest.  The  pictures  are 
now  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Chohnley,  a 
Yorkshire  gentleman,  who  is  proud  of  them  as 
curiosities,  but  knows  nothing  about  them,  and 
having  no  literary  taste,  has  made  no  inquiry 
and  does  not  care  to  make  any:  but  would 
have  no  objection,  his  friends  think,  to  having 
them  shown,  or  to  have  copies  or  engravings 
taken  from  them.  The  account  inclosed  was 
partly  quoted  from  Robertson,  partly  written 
by  a  lady  who,  at  the  request  of  a  friend  of 
ours,  made  inquiries  about  these  pictures  for 
me.  Though  you  must  [be]  better  acquainted 
than  she  or  we  are  with  all  Robertson  says, 
yet  I  send  the  extracts  she  has  made  from 
him,  as  they  will  bring  all  the  subject  to 
gether  before  your  eye.  The  extracts  from 
Robertson  are  marked  with  quotation  —  the 


112       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

lady's  own  notes   are  not  marked  as  quota 
tions. 

I  inclose  (to  save  myself  the  time  of  copy 
ing,  as  I  am  much  hurried  at  this  moment) 
some  scraps  of  notes  which  contain  all  the 
little  information  we  have  been  able  to  col 
lect  about  these  pictures  and  the  manner  in 
which  they  came  into  Mr.  Cholmley's  posses 
sion. 

I  have  a  recollection  of  your  mentioning  in 
your  history  of  the  "  Conquest  of  Mexico  "  the 
capture  of  a  ship  carrying  over  pictures  among 
other  valuables  of  Europe  —  either  to  Spain 
or  France  —  but  I  have  looked  for  the  passage 
in  vain. 

Dear  Mr.  Prescott,  I  am  afraid  that  I  am 
taking  up  your  most  valuable  time  with  what 
may  not  be  interesting  or  intelligible  to  you 
from  the  imperfect  information  I  send.  But 
you  will,  I  am  sure,  from  your  amiable  temper 
(with  which  I  am,  from  our  dear  friends  the 
Ticknors,  perfectly  acquainted)  give  me  credit 
for  my  motive  —  and  believe  in  my  sincere 
wish  to  do  anything  in  my  power  to  oblige  you 
or  to  give  you  the  least  pleasure  in  return  for 


AWAKING  FAMOUS  113 

the  great  quantity  of  delightful  pleasure  and 
information  you  have  given  me. 
Believe  me,  dear  Mr.  Prescott, 

Your  obliged  and  grateful, 

MARIA  EDGEWORTH. 

After  this  place,  aux  dames,  and  in  order  to 
end  the  chapter  with  masculine  learning  — 
Teuton  at  that  —  take  this  from  Von  Rau- 
mer :  — 

"You  have,  despite  the  trouble  with  your 
eyes,  finished  three  masterpieces.  .  .  . 

"  Baron  Humboldt,  whose  mind  remains  ever 
fresh  and  youthful,  sends  you  his  greetings,  as 
do  many  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  unknown 
to  you." 

This  was  the  same  man  of  whom  Prescott 
wrote  in  his  journal,  September  15,  1844  :  - 

"  Dragged  to  town  two  days  since  to  see 
Von  Raumer.  Neither  Von  nor  Don  shall  start 
me  again." 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  MAN  OF  LETTERS 

RICHARD  FORD'S  review  of  "Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  "  in  the  "  Quarterly  "  contained  a  little 
playful  sarcasm  at  the  expense  of  Prescott's 
style.  This,  wrote  Sir  William  Stirling,  in  his 
article  in  "  Fraser  "  entitled  "  In  Memoriam," 
"Prescott  confessed  to  us  that  he  did  not 
much  like."  He  had  not  forgotten  to  scruti 
nize  his  own  style,  —  witness  the  entry  in  his 
diary :  — 

February  13,  1830.  "Mem.  Two  or  three 
faults  of  style  occur  to  me  on  looking  over 
some  former  compositions  —  too  many  adjec 
tives;  too  many  couplets  of  substantives  as 
well  as  of  adjectives  and  perhaps  of  verbs  ;  too 
set  sentences  too  much  in  the  same  mould ; 
too  many  precise  emphatic  pronouns,  as  these, 
those,  which,  etc.,  instead  of  the  particles  the, 
a,  etc. ;  occasionally  unnecessary  expletives ; 
moral  or  practical  reflections  introduced  too 


THE  MAN   OF  LETTERS  115 

ceremoniously  instead  of  incidentally ;  no  other 
defects  occur  to  me  at  present,  and  I  cannot 
charge  myself  with  what  I  most  fear  —  timid- 

ity." 

Again,  in  his  journal,  the  historian  showed 
how  sweet  may  be  the  uses  of  criticism :  — 

August  4,  1839.  "  Have  been  led  by  the 
strictures  in  the  '  Quarterly '  to  review  the  style 
of  my  '  History,'  as  I  shall  always  make  it  a 
point  to  draw  all  the  benefit  I  can  from  critiques 
on  my  writings.  ...  I  have  devoted  several 
days  to  a  careful  scrutiny  of  my  defects,  and  to 
a  comparison  of  my  style  with  that  of  standard 
English  writers  of  the  present  time.  Master 
Ford  complains,  etc.  .  .  .  One  more  conclusion 
is  —  that  I  will  not  hereafter  vex  myself  with 
anxious  thoughts  about  my  style  when  compos 
ing.  It  is  formed." 

Nothing  could  be  more  characteristic  than 
the  foregoing  extract.  Prescott's  anxious  de 
sire  to  perfect  his  work  and  to  profit  by  every 
honest  criticism ;  his  thoroughness  of  self- 
judgment  by  the  highest  standards,  and,  when 
all  was  done,  the  poised  serenity  of  his  spirit 
in  putting  away  forever  a  care  with  which  it 


116      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

was  vain  to  vex  himself  longer  —  these  things 
are  of  the  very  essence  of  the  man.  His  lofty 
ideals  as  a  writer  find  frequent  reflection  in  his 
private  records :  — 

"  On  the  whole,  there  is  service,  and  know 
ledge  and  improvement  gained  by  pondering 
deeply  the  masterpieces  —  few,  very  few  —  of 
literature  [he  had  been  reading  Shakespeare] 
instead  of  diffusing  one's  self  over  the  whole 
surface  of  second  and  third  rate  productions. 
Hereafter  I  will  propose  a  few  such  to  myself, 
and  endeavor  to  become  more  and  more  inti 
mate  with  them." 

"  Of  one  thing  I  am  persuaded.  No  motives 
but  those  of  an  honest  fame  and  of  usefulness 
will  ever  be  of  much  weight  with  me  in  stimu 
lating  my  labors.  I  never  shall  be  satisfied  to 
do  my  work  slovenly  or  superficially.  It  would 
be  impossible  for  me  to  do  the  job-work  of  a 
literary  hack.  Fortunately,  I  am  not  driven  to 
write  for  bread  ;  and  I  never  will  write  for 
money." 

On  the  fly-leaf  of  Volume  X  of  his  "  Liter 
ary  Memoranda  "  stands  this  motto  from  Cicero 
—  "  Scribendi  autem  me  non  tarn  fructus,  et 


THE  MAN  OF  LETTERS  117 

gloria,  quain  studium  ipsum,  exercitatioque  de- 
lectat ;  —  quod  mihi  nulla  res  eripiet." 

No  writer  ever  wrought  more  faithfully  ii\ 
that  spirit. 

Prescott  gave  himself  secret  warnings  :  — 

April  1,  1841.  "Never  shrink  from  telling 
the  truth.  If  I  am  retained  by  the  Spaniards, 
I  shall  lose  my  reputation  with  every  other 
people.  I  spoke  fearlessly  in  '  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella/  Do  so  now." 

At  the  head  of  the  first  page  of  the  eleventh 
volume  of  his  journal,  under  date  February  17, 
1842,  stands  the  following  couplet :  - 

"  For  sluggard's  brow  the  laurel  never  grows. 
Renown  is  not  the  child  of  indolent  repose." 

Immediately  after  came  this :  - 

February  17,  1842.  "  I  consume  too  much 
time  on  notes  and  on  pettinesses  every  way. 
Think  more  of  general  effect  and  impression. 
Don't  quiddle  nor  twaddle." 

Once  more :  — 

July  28, 1849.  "  After  all,  regular  composi 
tion  of  a  great  historic  work  is  the  best  recipe 
for  happiness  —  for  me." 

But  Prescott  had  others  to  think  of.    In  his 


118       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

representative  capacity  he  had  a  large  corre 
spondence  with  foreigners.  "  I  can't  write  a 
short  letter,  though  it  were  on  my  deathbed." 
This  was  his  explanation  of  the  entry  of  No 
vember  15,  1842  :  "  I  send  eight  long  letters 
to  Europe  to-morrow."  Turning  to  his  Kecord 
of  Correspondence,  which  he  kept  for  years 
with  methodical  exactness,  we  may  find  to  whom 
those  eight  letters  were  sent  and  what  they 
were  about :  — 

MR.  EDWARD  EVERETT  —  Inclosing  letters  to 

Italy.    Asking  about  publisher. 
DON  NERI  CORSINI  —  Thanking    him.     Ask 
ing  leave  for  Mr.  Green  to  ins. 
MARQUIS  CAPPONI  —  Thanking  for  present — 

Kemarks  on  F.  &  I.  trans. 
MR.  G.  "W.  GREEN  —  Suggesting  to  call  on 

Corsini. 
MR.  TYTLER  —  Thanking  for  his  history.    His 

offer  of  MSS. 
MR.  GAYANGOS  —  Philip  II  —  In   Paris   to 

mem.  Granville. 
MR.  DICKENS  —  Thanking  him  for  his  book. 

He  to  define  terms  for  Mad?  C. 


THE   MAN  OF  LETTERS  119 

SENOR  CORDERERA  —  Advising  of  remittance. 
Ordering  Phil,  of  EC.  &  Colum. 

In  his  later  life,  Prescott  hospitably  enter 
tained  the  literary  stranger  within  our  gates. 
Many  noted  foreigners  turned  their  steps  to 
his  home  on  Beacon  Street.  It  was  there  that 
J.  G.  Kohl,  the  German  geographer,  saw 
him.  This  was  the  impression  recorded :  "  I 
met  but  few  Americans  so  distinguished  by 
elegance  and  politeness ;  and  when  I  first  met 
him,  and  before  knowing  his  name,  I  took  him 
for  a  diplomatist.  He  had  not  the  slightest 
trace  of  the  dust  of  books  and  learning.  .  .  . 
He  was  at  that  time  past  his  60th  year  and  yet 
his  delicate,  nobly  chiseled  face  possessed  such 
a  youthful  charm  that  he  could  fascinate  young 
ladies." 

One  young  lady,  a  kinswoman,  was  perhaps 
the  first  to  make  Prescott  pay  that  bitter-sweet 
penalty  of  literary  fame  —  to  become  the  in 
voluntary  confidant  and  adviser  of  aspiring 
brothers  or  sisters  of  the  craft.  The  letter 
which  he  received  from  Captain  Henry  Pres 
cott,  of  St.  Johns,  in  1840,  was  accompanied  by 


120      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 
a  volume  of  poems  from  the  pen  of  the  writer's 
daughter.    That  authoress  later  wrote  him  this 
note :  — 

MY  DEAR  SIB,  —  I  cannot  resist  giving 
myself  the  pleasure  of  thanking  you,  in  my 
own  person,  for  the  gift  of  your  valuable  work, 
which  will  indeed,  as  long  as  I  live,  have  an 
honored  place  in  my  library.  As  a  woman,  I 
am  bound  to  be  grateful  to  you  for  the  justice 
you  have  done  to  the  character  of  one  of  the 
noblest  of  my  sex ;  and  as  a  Prescott  I  am 
truly  proud  of  the  fame,  which  I  trust  you  will 
long  live  to  enjoy.  .  .  . 

HENRIETTA  PRESCOTT. 

ST.  JOHNS,  March  12,  1841. 

But  this  was  nothing  to  what  was  to  come. 
On  March  27,  1841,  the  following  letter  was 
addressed  to  him  from  Wakefield,  England :  — 

SIR,  —  The  perusal  of  your  admirable  "  His 
tory  of  the  Reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
the  Catholic,"  has  suggested  the  composition 
of  the  enclosed  little  drama  entitled  "  The 
Siege  of  Granada."  As  I  have  printed  but  a 
very  limited  number  of  copies,  a  new  edition 


THE  MAN  OF  LETTERS  121 

is  not '  improbable ;  would  you  allow  me  to 
dedicate  my  next,  and,  I  trust,  more  corrected 
edition,  to  yourself  ? 

I  am,  sir,  with  all  respect, 
Your  M.  O.  S., 

WM.  HENKY  LEATHAM. 

What  answer  Prescott  gave  the  poet  may 
be  inferred  from  this  fragment  of  a  letter  two 
years  later :  — 

February  11,  1843. 

.  .  .  As  you  kindly  expressed  yourself  pleased 
with  my  little  poetical  performance,  I  have 
inclosed  for  your  acceptance  a  complete  set  of 

my  poems. 

WM.  H.  LEATHAM. 

But  the  historian  was  far  from  through 
with  this  insistent  bard.  Every  history  fatally 
inspired  a  poem.  The  "  Conquest  of  Mexico  " 
led  Mr.  Leatham  to  indite  some  verses  on 
Montezuma.  Of  these  he  wrote,  on  October 
10,  1844,  proposing  to  print  this  poem,  to 
gether  with  his  drama,  "  The  Siege  of  Gra 
nada,"  in  a  little  book  to  be  dedicated  to 
Prescott,  and  asks,  "  Do  you  think  it  would 


122       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PB-ESCOTT 

command  any  sale  in  America?"  In  his 
poem  he  says,  describing  the  ancient  "  unholy 
rites,"  — 

"  And  human  gore  was  seen  to  pour  like  water  in  the 
sun." 

The  youth  chosen  for  sacrifice  had  his  fill 
of  color,  and  enjoyment,  and  sweet-smelling 
flowers  — 

"  Till  that  day  year  the  bloody  bier  will  snatch  him 
from  their  bowers." 

When  Montezuma  at  last  comes  to  die  — 

"  He  speaks  no  more  but  bows  his  head,  his  eyeballs 

cease  to  roll. 

His  race  is  run  and  with  the  sun  has  passed  the  mon 
arch's  soul. 
Soon  as  the  awe-struck  Mexicans  had  heard  their  king 

was  dead, 
A  distant  wail  rose  on  the  gale,  and  through  the  city 

spread. 
But  short  their   grief  ;  each  warrior-chief  by  Cuitla- 

huac  led, 

In  wrath  arose  to  smite  his  foes,  if  not  already  fled  — 
Their  sullen  tramp  has  reached  the  camp  where 

Cortez  vainly  strives. 
The   Spaniard    from    the  wave-girt  wall  the   gallant 

Aztec  drives  ; 


THE  MAN   OF  LETTERS  123 

Till  morning  breaks  o'er  reedy  lakes  throughout  the 

dismal  night, 

The  swarthy  sons  of  Mexico  prolong  the  bloody  fight, 
And  for  his  cursed  stratagem  the  General  dearly  paid, 
For  vainly  did  he  wield  his  lance  and  keen  Toledo 

blade  !  " 

Another  persistent  English  correspondent 
of  Prescott's  was  Dr.  S.  A.  Dunham.  An  ex 
posure  of  this  gentleman's  ignorance  in  a  foot 
note  of  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  "  seemed  to 
establish  a  lien  upon  Prescott's  time  and  kind 
ness.  He  promptly  wrote  to  ask  what  were  the 
chances  of  his  obtaining  a  livelihood  in  the 
United  States.  Prescott  apparently  gave  him 
some  Greeleyesque  advice.  At  any  rate,  Dr. 
Dunham  quickly  rejoined  with  a  round  dozen 
of  questions,  one  of  which  was,  "  To  what  por 
tion  of  the  far  West  do  you  allude?"  The 
farther  west  the  better,  one  might  think  Pres 
cott  would  have  been  tempted  to  reply  to  a 
man  who  seemed  to  think  that  one  considerate 
word  implied  an  undertaking  to  care  for  him 
and  his  family  forever  after.  What  Prescott 
did  reply  is  of  value  not  only  as  illustrating 
his  own  admirable  temper,  but  as  throwing 


124       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

an  instructive  light  upon  the  nature  of  the 
struggle  for  existence  of  the  American  man 
of  letters  at  the  time. 

TO    DR.    DUNHAM 

BOSTON,  January  30,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, —  I  am  extremely  con 
cerned  to  learn  that  the  cloud  still  hangs  so 
darkly  over  your  prospects,  now  that  you  are 
again  on  your  native  soil.  I  was  in  hopes  that, 
once  more  among  your  friends,  and  in  a  coun 
try  where  men  of  letters  are  sufficiently  nu 
merous  to  make  a  distinct  and  important  class, 
your  just  claims  would  be  recognized.  It  is 
impossible  for  a  foreigner,  like  myself,  to  judge 
of  the  expediency  of  the  plans  you  suggest  for 
the  future  maintenance  of  your  family.  And 
I  am  grieved  to  be  obliged  to  say  that  I  think 
it  would  be  in  vain  to  look  for  a  contribution 
towards  it  here.  There  are  so  many  projects 
that  appeal  so  directly  to  those  most  liberally 
disposed  in  our  community  that  their  resources 
seem  to  be  preoccupied. 

With  respect  of  contributions  to  the  news 
papers,  I  fear  there  will  be  as  little  chance  of 


THE  MAN  OF  LETTERS  125 

success  in  that  quarter.  You  might  indeed 
furnish  articles  on  literary  matters  to  a  respec 
table  journal  like  our  "  North  American." 
But  the  compensation  is  too  inconsiderable  to 
furnish  an  inducement ;  since  it  is  only  a  dol 
lar  a  printed  page.  I  have  known  this  journal 
to  give  two  dollars  a  page  to  a  popular  writer 
who  would  contract  for  a  certain  amount  of 
pages  per  annum.  I  know  not  whether  this  is 
ever  done  by  the  present  editor.  Should  you 
send  anything  to  me  for  that  Journal  I  shall 
have  much  pleasure  in  handing  it  to  the  Editor 
and  ascertaining  whether  he  would  be  inclined 
to  make  an  engagement  with  you  for  the  fu 
ture.  Our  newspapers  do  not  press  often  into 
their  service  writers  who  have  drunk  deep  of 
the  good  wells  of  learning,  and  a  penny-a-line 
manufacturer  of  casualties  will  find  more  en 
couragement  with  most  of  them  than  a  man  of 
learning.  I  have  suggested  it  to  one  of  our 
most  respectable  editors  but  he  has  given  me 
no  encouragement. 

W.  H.  PKESCOTT. 

Miss  L.  I.  Lincolne,  "  a  perfect  stranger  " 


126      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

to  him,  —  and  otherwise  not  too  perfect  to  be 
a  sly  young  autograph  hunter,  — wrote  him 
from  Norwich,  March  25,  1856,  a  rather  gush 
ing  letter  saying  how  very  much  she  had  en 
joyed  the  two  volumes  of  "  Philip  II "  and 
representing  herself  in  a  state  of  frantic  impa 
tience  to  hear  the  rest  of  the  story  —  what 
was  the  fate  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  etc.,  — 
and  begging  him  to  hurry  up  with  the  rest  of 
the  work.  Prescott  answered  her  letter  kindly ; 
for  she  writes  again  (May  15,  1856)  thank 
ing  him  effusively  and  saying  that  his  letter 
is  "  carefully  treasured,"  while  not  forgetting 
to  ask  some  questions  as  bait  for  a  second 
letter. 

Even  Prescott's  patience  broke  down  before 
one  appeal  that  came  to  him.  In  August  of 
1858  Senor  Don  Pedro  Felix  Vicuna  of  Val 
paraiso  sent  him  a  long  and  flowery  letter. 
After  a  glowing  tribute  to  the  country  of  Wash 
ington  and  Jefferson,  he  proceeded  to  request 
that  Prescott  would  write  a  public  letter, 
throwing  his  influence  upon  the  right  side,  in 
order  to  calm  the  political  tumults  of  Chili. 
Senor  Vicuna  adds  that  he  has  forwarded  a 


THE  MAN  OF  LETTERS  127 

little  "  production  of  his  own  "  which  appar 
ently  he  desired  Prescott  to  aid  him  in  pub 
lishing.  This  letter  bore  the  unexampled  in 
dorsement,  "  No  answer."  A  letter  to  and 
from  George  Bancroft  may  fitly  close  this 
chapter.  Bancroft  had  reviewed  "  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella "  in  the  "  Democratic  Keview," 
and  Prescott  wrote  in  acknowledgment :  — • 

Saturday,  P.  M.  (indorsed  May  5,  1838). 
DEAR  BANCROFT,  —  I  return  the  review 
with  my  hearty  thanks.  I  think  it  is  one  of 
the  most  delightful  tributes  ever  paid  by  friend 
ship  to  authorship.  And  I  think  it  is  writ 
ten  in  your  very  happiest  manner.  I  do  not 
believe,  in  estimating  it  so,  I  am  misled  by 
the  subject,  or  the  writer,  for  I  have  not  been 
very  easy  to  please  on  the  score  of  puffs,  of 
which  I  have  had  full  measure,  you  know,  from 
my  good-natured  friends.  But  the  style  of  the 
piece  is  gorgeous,  without  being  overloaded, 
and  the  tone  of  sentiment  most  original,  with 
out  the  least  approach  to  extravagance  or 
obscurity.  Indeed,  the  originality  of  the 
thoughts  and  the  topics  touched  on  constitute 


128       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

its  great  charm,  and  make  the  article  even  at 
this  eleventh  hour,  when  so  much  has  been 
said  on  the  subject,  have  all  the  freshness  of 
novelty.  In  this,  I  confess,  considering  how 
long  it  had  been  kept  on  the  shelf,  I  am  most 
agreeably  disappointed.  As  to  the  length,  it 
is,  taken  in  connection  with  the  sort  of  cri 
tique,  just  the  thing.  It  will  terrify  none  from 
venturing  on  it,  and  I  am  sure  a  man  must  be 
without  relish  for  the  beautiful,  who  can  lay  it 
down  without  finishing. 

Faithfully  yours, 

WM.  H.  PRESCOTT. 

P.  S.  There  is  one  thing  which  I  had  like 
to  have  forgotten,  but  which  I  shall  not  for 
give.  You  have  the  effrontery  to  speak  of  my 
having  passed  the  prime  of  life,  some  dozen 
years  ago.  Why,  my  youthful  friend,  do  you 
know  what  the  prime  of  life  is  ?  Moliere  shall 
tell  you :  — 

"  He  bien  !  qu'est  ce  que  cela,  soixante  ans  ? 
C'est  le  fleur  de  1'age  cela."  Prime  of  life,  in 
deed  !  People  will  think  the  author  is  turned 
of  seventy.  He  was  a  more  discreet  critic  that 
called  me  "  young  and  modest !  " 


THE  MAN  OF  LETTERS  129 

Five  years  later,  when  the  "  Conquest  of 
Mexico  "  was  published,  Bancroft  wrote  to  the 
author : — 

MY  DEAR  PRESCOTT, —  Thanks  for  your 
beautiful  volumes,  which  I  have  read  with  ad 
miration  and  delight.  You  handle  your  subject 
like  one  inspired  with  it.  The  fervor  glows 
everywhere.  After  finishing  the  second  volume, 
I  took  down  Robertson :  shall  I  confess  with 
some  anxiety  ?  On  comparing  the  thrilling 
scenes,  I  think  your  account  as  correctly  ex 
pressed  in  point  of  style,  more  vivid,  more 
dramatic,  and  with  a  better  development  of 
causes.  Till  I  read,  I  had  some  uncertainty 
about  popularity ;  I  have  no  doubt  now.  Your 
volumes  will  be  among  the  most  widely  read  in 
the  English  language. 

That  you  may  see  what  the  locofocos  think, 
I  mean  the  sound  ones,  not  such  Tylerites  as 
we  have  in  this  city,  I  send  you  Bryant's 
Criticism,  only  adding  I  made  up  my  mind 
last  night  and  got  Bryant's  this  morning. 
Yours  always, 

G.  BANCROFT. 

December,  1843. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE   "CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO" 

PKESCOTT'S  second  historical  work  —  at  once 
his  most  praised  and  most  belittled  —  was  a 
natural  sequence  of  his  first.  Indeed,  in  "  Fer 
dinand  and  Isabella  "  itself  there  is  a  sort  of 
unconscious  premonition  of  what  was  to  fol 
low,  —  the  reference,  at  the  end  of  the  second 
volume,  to  that  "  young  adventurer  who  was 
destined,  by  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  to  realize 
all  the  magnificent  visions,  which  had  been 
derided  as  only  visions,  in  the  lifetime  of  Co 
lumbus."  Yet  it  was  long  before  the  historian 
found  his  subject. 

"  This  ['  Ferdinand  and  Isabella ']  is  prob 
ably,"  he  set  down  in  his  diary,  under  date  of 
March  10,  1833,  "the  only  civil  history  I 
shall  ever  attempt."  He  did  not  mean  to  ex 
clude  literary  history,  to  which  his  thoughts  at 
first  reverted  after  the  completion  and  publica 
tion  of  "  Their  Catholic  Majesties,"  as  he  was 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO          131 

fond  of  calling  his  book.  It  had  been  an  old 
bent  of  his.  When  halfway  through  "  Ferdi 
nand  and  Isabella  "  he  recorded  :  "  But,  after 
all,  literary  history  is  more  consonant  with  my 
taste,  my  turn  of  mind,  and  all  my  previous 
studies.  The  sooner  I  complete  my  present 
work,  the  sooner  I  shall  be  enabled  to  enter 
upon  it." 

He  now  proposed  to  write  a  life  of  Moliere, 
on  whom  he  had,  in  1828,  done  an  article  in 
the  "  North  American  Review."  As  usual,  he 
set  about  drenching  himself  in  material.  He 
ordered  every  attainable  authority  and  aid  from 
Paris.  But  a  wiser  purpose  slowly  asserted  it 
self,  and  we  find  in  the  journal  of  May  27, 
1838:- 

"  Before  they  [materials  for  projected  Mo 
liere]  arrived,  however,  the  favor  shown  to  the 
'  History  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella '  encour 
aged  me  to  go  on  with  another  subject  which 
seemed  to  be  a  natural  continuation  of  the 
last,  which  had  the  superior  advantage  of  re 
lating  to  my  own  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  for 
which  I  now  possessed  eminent  advantages 
for  procuring  original  unpublished  materials 


132       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

from  Spain.  ...  I  have  since  —  the  last  week 
in  April  — forwarded  letters  to  different  savans 
in  Madrid,  with  a  letter  of  credit  on  the  Bar 
ings  for  300  pounds,  ...  in  order  to  procure 
such  curious,  original,  and  authentic  documents 
as  may  throw  light  on  the  discovery  and  con 
quest  of  Mexico  and  Peru.  .  .  .  Should  I  suc 
ceed  in  my  present  collection,  who  knows  what 
facilities  I  may  find  for  making  one  relative  to 
Philip  IIdB  reign?  — a  fruitful  theme." 

Prescott  made  it  his  first  business  to  secure 
every  printed  work  extant  that  bore  on  his 
subject,  and  as  many  copies  of  manuscripts 
as  possible.  "  Your  manuscripts,"  he  noted, 
"  is  the  only  staple  for  the  historic  web  —  at 
least  the  only  one  to  make  the  stuff  which 
will  stand  the  wear  and  tear  of  old  Father 
Time." 

Fortunately  his  purse  did  not  lay  an  em 
bargo  on  his  scholar's  instinct.  He  was  able 
to  purchase  even  such  works  as  Lord  Kings- 
borough's  sumptuous  volumes  on  Mexican  An 
tiquities.  "  As  I  could  not  borrow,  it  was 
necessary  to  buy  his  Lordship's  mammoth 
work  —  the  hard  necessity  of  a  country  with- 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         133 

out  libraries."  Friends  and  scholars  abroad 
aided  him  in  his  collections  until  at  last  even 
he  was  satisfied,  and  could  write :  — 

"  The  doubt  as  to  the  acquisition  of  the 
materials  essential  to  the  success  of  my  under 
taking  is  dispelled ;  and  these  materials,  safe 
from  all  the  perils  of  land  and  water,  are  now 
on  my  own  shelves." 

A  preliminary  difficulty  remained.  He 
learned  through  Mr.  Cogswell  of  the  Astor 
Library  that  Irving  had  begun  to  write  on 
the  Conquest  of  Mexico.  There  followed  as 
generous  an  act  of  literary  abnegation  as  could 
be  cited.  Irving  promptly  and  handsomely 
yielded  the  field  to  Prescott.  The  correspond 
ence  between  the  two,  at  that  time  not  per 
sonally  acquainted,  is  given  by  Ticknor  and  by 
Pierre  Irving  in  the  biography  of  his  uncle. 
It  is  probable  that  Prescott  did  not  fully 
realize  what  it  cost  Irving  to  abandon  the 
project.  The  grace  of  the  surrender  hid  its 
bitterness. 

But  the  nephew  has  recorded  the  "  fit  of 
vexation  "  in  which  Irving  destroyed  what  he 
had  already  written,  and  George  Sumner  wrote 


134      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

to  his  brother  Charles  from  Malaga,  Novem 
ber  19,  1843:- 

"  It  is  delightful  to  hear  the  tones  of  admi 
ration  in  which  Irving  always  speaks  of  Pres- 
cott,  although  the  abandonment  of  the  4  Con 
quest  of  Mexico '  which  he  had  commenced 
cost  him  a  pang !  His  steam  was  just  fairly 
up  when  he  heard  that  Prescott  was  at  work 
upon  the  same  subject.  For  a  week  after 
he  abandoned  it  he  felt  like  a  fish  out  of 
water  and  took  to  planting  cabbages  most 
desperately." 

There  is  no  reason  to  think,  however,  that 
Irving's  self-sacrifice,  while  it  heightened  his 
reputation  for  magnanimous  dealing,  resulted 
in  any  real  loss  to  American  literature.  Pres 
cott  had  incomparably  the  ampler  resources ; 
he  was  a  more  relentless  investigator  than 
Irving ;  brooded  longer  over  his  subjects,  until 
their  artistic  form  of  presentation  became  clear 
to  him ;  and  so,  even  if  he  lacked  something 
of  Irving's  natural  magic  of  style,  was  the 
fitter  man  to  do  the  work.  Irving  himself 
freely  acknowledged  this  when  Prescott's  vol 
umes  on  the  "  Conquest "  were  put  into  his 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         135 

hands.  Prescott,  on  his  part,  paid  Irving  the 
finest  compliments,  in  his  preface  and  else 
where.  The  entire  incident  was  honorable  to 
both  writers.  Prescott  did  not  forget  to  be 
equally  generous  when  it  came  time  for  him  to 
throw  open  his  Spanish  preserves  to  Motley. 

In  the  journal  the  withdrawal  of  Irving  is 
thus  recorded :  — 

"  The  only  competitor  who,  I  feared,  might 
possibly  have  turned  his  eyes  in  the  same  di 
rection  was  Irving  —  not  from  any  intimation 
he  had  given  of  this  —  which  would  have  pre 
vented  me  from  thinking  of  it  at  all  —  but 
from  the  circumstance  of  his  having  formerly 
hunted  on  this  ground.  A  very  polite  and 
courteous  message  from  him,  through  our 
common  friend  Cogswell,  followed  by  a  letter 
of  the  same  tone,  has  put  these  doubts  at 
rest,  and  left  the  field  open  to  me.  And  now 
I  shall  go  merrily  forward  in  my  historical 
labors." 

Prescott  himself  placed  the  milestones  along 
his  Mexican  road.  They  are  as  follows :  — 

May,  1838.  "  Began  scattered  reading  on 
the  subject,  doubtful  if  I  get  my  documents 


136       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

from  Spain.  Very  listless  and  far-nient-ish  for 
a  year.  Over-visiting  and  not  in  spirits." 

April,  1839.  "Began  to  read  in  earnest, 
having  received  manuscripts  from  Madrid." 

October  14,  1839.  "  Wrote  first  page  of 
Introduction  at  Pepperell." 

March  1,  1841.  "Finished  Introduction 
and  Part  I.  of  Appendix." 

August,  1841-August,  1842.  "  Composed 
562  pages  of  print,  text  and  notes  of  the  nar 
rative." 

August,  1842-August,  1843.  "Composed 
425  pages  print,  text  and  notes  ;  revised  Tick- 
nor's  corrections  and  his  wife's,  of  all  the  work. 
Corrected,  etc.,  proofs  of  nearly  all  the  work. 
The  last  book  required  severe  reading  of 
MSS." 

August  2, 1843.  "Finished the  work.  So  the 
Introduction,  about  half  a  vol.,  occupied  about 
as  long  as  the  remaining  two  and  a  half  vols. 
of  dashing  narrative." 

Further  scattered  excerpts  from  Prescott's 
own  notes  on  his  work  will  reveal,  better  than 
could  labored  description,  his  conception  of  his 
task  and  his  methods  in  its  execution. 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         137 

July  7,  1839.  «  The  «  Conquest  of  Mexico  ' 
was  the  greatest  miracle  in  an  age  of  mir 
acles.  .  .  . 

"In  short,  the  true  way  of  conceiving  the 
subject  is,  not  as  a  philosophical  theme,  but  as 
an  epic  in  prose.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  without  doubt  the  most  poetic  subject 
ever  offered  to  the  pen  of  the  historian." 

One  notes  in  passing  that  Lowell  agreed 
with  Prescott.  He  at  one  time  planned  an  epic 
on  the  Conquest  of  Mexico. 

Again  from  the  journal :  — 

July  21,  1839.  "Not  a  bad  week  — but 
feel  the  want  of  solid  materials  to  buckle 
to."  .  .  . 

August  4,  1839.  "  My  two  volumes  will  be 
completed  by  May  4, 1842,  my  forty-sixth  birth 
day.  There  is  nothing  extravagant  in  this 
surely,  and  if  I  wrote  from  the  auri  fames  it 
would  be  done  to  a  certainty.  As  it  is  —  in- 
certus  sum"  .  .  . 

January  1,  1840.  "  If  I  ever  get  out  of  the 
moonshine  period  of  the  old  Aztecs."  .  .  . 

February  9, 1840.  "  This  last  week  received 
a  diploma  from  the  Royal  Academy  of  Science 


138       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

at  Naples,  and  a  letter  accompanying  it  to  Dr. 
Bachi  from  the  President,  Count  Carmaldoli, 
in  which  he  says  '  my  nomination  was  received 
with  unanime  acclamazionej  and  that '  I  have 
written  a  work  which,  in  the  parts  relating  to 
Italy  is  assai  superiore  agli  stessi  Italiani? 
and  that  places  '  Signor  Prescott  nel  primo 
rango  de  piu  grandi  Istorici.'  This  will  do  for 
pulcherrima  Italia."  .  .  . 

June  15,  1840.  "  It  [note-making]  is  a 
twaddly  business.  Bancroft  saves  his  time  pro 
digiously  by  making  none  at  all.  I  will  do  my 
duty  by  the  Introduction,  but  when  I  have 
slipped  on  the  Narrative,  I  will  send  the  notes 
to  the  devil  —  at  least  all  but  strictly  critical 
ones."  .  ,  . 

January  3,  1841.  "  My  journal  is  paved, 
like  some  other  places,  with  good  resolu 
tions."  .  .  . 

January  10,  1841.  "  I  have  not  been  dili 
gent  enough.  I  chew  on  my  subject  more  than 
enough.  If  I  put  my  bones  to  it,  I  should  do  the 
work  better  as  well  as  faster.  I  will.  Or  write 
against  time  and  a  forfeit  as  I  did  once  to  get 
a  start  in  '  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.'  "... 


THE   CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         139 

April  1, 1841.  "Allowing  two  days'  reading 
for  one  of  writing  .  .  .  will  complete  the  work 
in  two  years  and  a  quarter  —  say  in  July,  1843, 
[later  penciled  mem.  4  The  last  pages  were 
written  in  July,  1843  ']  and  why  should  I  not? 
This  is  not  faster  than  Gibbon  wrote  his  last 
six  vols.  on  an  infinitely  harder  subject,  nor 
nearly  as  fast  as  Irving  wrote  his  '  Colum 
bus.'"  .  .  . 

September  28, 1841.  "  Finished  text  of  chap. 
I  Book  3rd  ,  ...  full  of  the  picturesque  — 
reads  very  like  Miss  Porter  —  rather  boarding- 
schoolish  finery.  I  am  a  fraud."  .  .  . 

June  27,  1842.  "I  will  try  [to  do  fixed 
task]  though  this  memorandum  book  is  paved 
with  resolutions,  as  hell-floor  is  said  to  be  — 
a  broken  pavement,  too."  .  .  . 

August  2,  1843.  "  On  the  whole  the  last  two 
years  have  been  the  most  industrious  of  my 
life,  I  think  —  especially  the  last  year,  and  as 
I  have  won  the  Capitol  it  entitles  me  to  three 
months  of  literary  loafing." 

Midway  in  his  "  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  the 
historian  was  compelled  to  turn  aside  to  make 
an  abridgment  of  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella." 


140      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

This  was  to  head  off  a  piratical  edition  then 
threatened.  The  job  was  most  distasteful  to 
Prescott,  as  Ticknor  intimates,  though  he  does 
not  give  the  language  which  the  journal  used. 
The  extract  is  full  of  that  homely  speech  into 
which  the  Yankee  blood  in  Prescott  often  im 
pelled  him  to  break  in  private,  though  most  of 
it  the  elegant  Ticknor  passed  by,  in  a  stretch 
of  charity  for  one  who  was  not,  like  himself, 
always  in  full  dress. 

July  19,  1841.  "  Finished  Abridg.  Hist,  of 
F.  &  I.  lo  triumphe  !  three  weeks  and  a  half 
since  I  first  put  pen  to  paper.  About  one 
tenth  of  the  vol.  written  de  novo  —  the  rest 
docked,  scissored,  sweated,  headed  and  tailed. 
I  shied,  like  a  skittish  horse  at  a  leap,  and  find 
'tis  a  mudpuddle  only.  Dirty  work,  however, 
and  I  wish  the  publishers  would  let  it  sleep  till 
some  one  starts  up  with  a  rival  abridgment." 

The  abridgment  was  not,  in  fact,  published, 
the  pirate  having  sailed  away. 

As  usual,  Prescott  turned  bookseller  after 
bookwriter,  and  painstakingly  scrutinized  his 
accounts.  The  right  of  publishing  the  "  Con 
quest  of  Mexico  "  he  sold  to  the  Harpers  from 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         141 

plates  provided  by  himself.  The  publishers 
were  to  have  5000  copies,  for  which  they 
offered  $7500  in  cash —  "  an  enormous  price," 
notes  Prescott,  "  which  I  should  not  have  had 
the  courage  to  ask  of  any  publisher."  The 
agreement  was  for  a  single  year,  in  which 
Harper  and  Brothers  were  to  take  as  many 
more  copies  on  the  same  terms  as  they  might 
order.  "  I  hope  they  may  not  be  disappointed, 
for  their  sakes  as  well  as  mine.  But  this  is 
a  different  contract  from  that  which  ushered 
'  Ferdinand  and  Isabella '  into  the  world."  In 
the  result,  the  5000  copies  were  sold  in  four 
months.  The  English  edition  had  also  a  great 
sale.  Passing  over  mere  business  details,  the 
following  may  be  cited  from  Prescott's  "  Re 
flections  on  the  Printing,  etc.,  of  my  Histo 
ries,"  September  10,  1843. 

"I  have  employed  Folsom  and  paid  him 
fifty  dollars  per  vol.  for  correcting  the  printed 
proofs.  He  has  done  it  faithfully,  and  though 
I  have  not  taken  more  than  one  in  five  of  his 
corrections,  I  think  they  are  worth  the  money. 
If  I  had  taken  them  all,  or  nearly  all,  it  would 
have  ruined  the  book." 


142       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

A  characterization  of  this  famous  and  still 
familiar  book  of  Prescott's  could  be  called  for 
only  on  the  principle  of  the  mediaeval  scholar 
who,  Hallam  tells  us,  took  for  his  motto,  "  This 
I  include  lest  anything  be  left  unsaid."  One 
word  may  be  inserted,  however,  in  reply  to  the 
natural  question  how  the  "  Conquest  of  Mex 
ico  "  has  stood  the  wear  and  tear  of  subsequent 
historical  investigation.  At  first  there  was  a 
decided  lurch  adverse  to  Prescott.  Wilson  and 
his  school  resolved  "  the  golden  cupolas  of 
Mexico,"  as  Disraeli  called  them  with  charac 
teristic  grandiloquence,  into  Indian  mud  huts, 
and  made  of  the  Spanish  chroniclers  a  set  of 
impudent  liars.  But  the  due  reaction  came. 
Archeology  has,  of  course,  uncovered  many 
things  never  guessed  in  Prescott's  day  in  re 
gard  to  "  the  moonshine  period  "  of  the  Aztecs. 
Later  scholars  have  sifted  and  checked  Bernal 
Diaz  —  "  that  jewel  of  a  chronicler  "  —  and 
the  other  Spanish  writers  in  a  way  not  possible 
in  Prescott's  day.  New  material  has  come  to 
light.  Yet  when  every  allowance  of  this  sort  has 
been  made,  the  fact  remains  that  the  "  Con 
quest  of  Mexico  "  holds  its  own  wonderfully 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO          143 

well.  Supercilious  young  novelists  may  sneer 
at  it  as  "Prescott's  romance  that  he  passed 
off  for  history,"  but  the  competent  know 
better.  A  fair  and  sufficient  summary  of  the 
state  of  the  case  is  given  by  H.  H.  Bancroft 
in  his  monumental  "  History  of  Mexico  : "  — 

"  For  his  '  Conquest  of  Mexico,'  besides  all 
printed  material  extant,  Mr.  Prescott  drew 
upon  a  large  mass  of  new  information  in  man 
uscript,  from  several  sources,  notably  from  the 
valuable  collection  of  Munoz,  brought  together 
for  an  intended  history  of  America;  that  of 
Vargas  Ponce,  obtained  chiefly  from  Seville 
archives ;  that  of  Navarrete,  president  of  the 
Royal  Academy  of  History  at  Madrid ;  and  the 
archives  of  Cortes'  heirs,  all  of  which  shed  new 
light  on  almost  every  section  of  the  subject.  His 
deep  research,  manifest  throughout  in  copious 
footnotes,  is  especially  displayed  in  the  very  ap 
propriate  introduction  on  Mexican  civilization, 
which  enables  the  reader  to  gain  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  people  whose  subjugation  he 
follows.  Good  judgment  is  also  attested  in  the 
dissertation  on  the  moot  question  of  the  origin 


144      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

of  this  culture,  wherein  he  prudently  abstains 
from  any  decided  conclusions.  The  fact  of 
occasional  inaccuracies  cannot  be  severely  crit 
icised  when  we  consider  the  infirmity  under 
which  the  author  labored.  Since  his  time  so 
great  a  mass  of  material  has  been  brought  to 
light  that  the  aspect  of  history  is  much 
changed.  This  new  material  consists  partly  of 
native  records,  and  it  is  due  to  his  unacquaint- 
ance  with  these  records  that  a  great  lack  is  im 
plied  in  his  pages.  The  fact  that  Prescott  relied 
too  much  on  Spanish  material  may  account 
for  the  marked  bias  in  favor  of  the  conquer 
ors  in  many  instances  where  strict  impartiality 
might  be  expected,  and  for  the  condemna 
tory  and  reflective  assertions  which  at  times 
appear  in  direct  contradiction  to  previous  lines 
of  thought.  At  times,  as  if  aware  of  this  ten 
dency,  he  assumes  a  calmness  that  ill  fits  the 
theme,  giving  it  the  very  bias  he  seeks  to  avoid. 
Yet  with  all  this  it  is  safe  to  say  that  few 
histories  have  been  written  in  which  the  quali 
ties  of  philosopher  and  artist  are  so  happily 
blended." 

The  immediate  enthusiasm  with  which  the 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         145 

"  Conquest  of  Mexico  "  was  received  has  been 
implied.  The  book  won  a  much  wider  audience 
than  "  Ferdinand  and  Isabella."  From  across 
the  Atlantic  came  approving  voices.  Edward 
Everett  wrote  of  a  dispute  between  Hallam 
and  Thomas  Grenville  over  the  question  of 
style.  Was  that  of  the  "  Conquest "  superior 
to  that  of  "Ferdinand  and  Isabella"?  Hal- 
lam  thought  so.  Grenville  was  inclined  to 
stand  by  his  former  preference.  "What  it  was, 
Everett  stated  in  his  address  on  Prescott  be 
fore  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  in 
1859 :  "  Calling  one  day  on  the  venerable 
Mr.  Thomas  Grenville,  whom  I  found  in  his 
library  (the  second  in  size  and  value  of  the 
private  libraries  of  England)  reading  Xeno- 
phon's  'Anabasis '  in  the  original,  I  made 
some  passing  remark  on  the  beauty  of  that 
work.  4  Here,'  said  he,  holding  up  a  volume 
of  '  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,'  '  is  one  far 
superior.' " 

From  Hamburg,  Francis  Lieber  wrote,  on 
November  9,  1844  :  — 

"  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  A.  Humboldt 
at  Pottsdam,  and  of  hearing  from  his  lips  the 


146       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

praise  of  you.  "We  talked  a  good  deal  of  your 
works,  and  I  was  delighted  to  find  that  his 
opinion  agreed  in  every  point,  so  far  as  our 
conversation  went,  with  mine.  .  .  . 

"  Humboldt  agreed  with  me  that  your  '  Fer 
dinand  and  Isabella '  is,  so  far  as  the  taste  of 
the  historian  is  concerned,  the  first  work  of  all 
which  have  appeared  on  either  side  of  the  water 
these  many  years." 

Robert  C.  Winthrop,  in  a  letter  from  Paris, 
told  Prescott  that  "Mignet  greeted  me  most 
cordially  as  Vami  de  Prescott"  Messages  came 
again  from  Thierry. 

Reporters  of  English  praise  were  many. 
George  Bancroft  wrote  from  London,  July  20, 
1847:- 

"  There  is  but  one  opinion.  They  speak 
without  jealousy,  and  you  are  almost  the  only 
American  person,  state,  or  thing  that  they  com 
mend  without  reserve." 

An  extract  may  be  given  from  a  letter  by 
Miss  Edgeworth :  — 

"  What  pleasure  and  pride,  honest,  proper 
pride,  you  must  feel,  my  dear  Mr.  Prescott,  in 
the  sense  of  difficulty  conquered,  —  of  diffi- 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         147 

culties  innumerable  vanquished  by  the  perse 
verance  and  fortitude  of  genius  !  It  is  a  fine 
example  to  human  nature  ;  and  will  form  to 
great  works  genius  in  the  rising  generation  and 
in  ages  yet  unborn. 

"  What  a  new  and  ennobling  view  of  post 
humous  fame !  —  a  view  which  short-sighted, 
narrow-minded  mediocrity  cannot  reach,  and 
probably  would  call  romantic ;  but  which  the 
noble-minded  realize  to  themselves,  and  ask  not 
either  the  sympathy  or  the  comprehension  of 
the  commonplace  mean  ones. 

"  You  need  not  apologize  for  speaking  of 
yourself  to  the  world.  No  one  in  the  world 
whose  opinion  is  worth  looking  to  will  ever 
think  or  call  this  4  egotism.'  " 

In  his  journal  Prescott  noted,  under  date  of 
February  3,  1844  :  - 

"  Letter  to  Ticknor  from  Lyell,  *  everybody 
in  London  is  reading  the  "  C.  of  M.,"  '  and  old 
Professor  Smyth  writes  to  T.,  'its  arrival  is 
most  welcome,  for  Mr.  P.  is  considered  in  this 
country  as  the  first  of  modern  historians.' 
This  from  such  a  quarter  is  not  to  be  laid  on 
the  shelf.  But  the  favorable  impression  which 


148       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

the  work  seems  to  have  made  in  England  does 
not  please  me  more  than  a  passage  in  a  letter 
of  Mr.  George  Sumner,  now  in  Spain,  to  his 
brother.  Mr.  S.,  with  whom  I  am  unacquainted, 
says :  — 

"  '  Only  a  few  days  since,  at  a  session  of  the 
Academia  de  Bellas  Artes  in  Seville,  I  was 
welcomed  by  all,  from  the  President  down  to 
the  porter,  and  welcomed  como  conduct  ad  ano 
del  Senor  Prescott.'  This  tribute  from  the 
people  to  whose  annals  I  have  devoted  myself, 
is  very  grateful  to  me." 

Another  entry  gives  an  extract  from  a  letter 
by  George  Sumner  containing  Irving's  opin 
ion  on  the  "  Conquest  of  Mexico  "  which  Pres 
cott  said  that  he  valued  next  to  Humboldt's. 
Irving  was  reported :  — 

"  I  have  just  received  Prescott's  «  Conquest 
of  Mexico.'  I  had  already  perused  it  in  proof 
sheets  lent  me  by  Mr.  Calderon  de  la  Barca. 
It  is  an  admirable  work  and  fully  sustains  the 
high  reputation  he  acquired  by  his  '  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella.'  It  has  the  advantage,  too,  of 
being  quite  different  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
theme,  so  as  to  afford  a  variety  in  the  exercise 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         149 

of  his  pen.  I  shall  now  look  forward  with  con 
fident  anticipations  of  delight  to  the  history  of 
4  Philip  the  Second '  which  he  is  about  to  un 
dertake,  and  which  will  open  a  new  field  for 
his  talent.  The  two  works  he  has  produced 
are  signal  triumphs  for  our  literature,  which 
will  be  repeated  in  every  language  of  the  civi 
lized  world." 

Humboldt  himself  came  forward  with  his 
tribute :  — 

February,  1 845.  "  Eec'd  a  letter  from  Baron 
Humboldt  —  a  gratifying  testimonial  of  his 
approval  of  my  Mexican  labors.  He  says  he 
has  gone  over  the  book  line  by  line,  with  a 
critical  eye,  and  professes  his  intention  to  have 
translated  it,  but  was  anticipated.  May  be  so 
—  may  be  not.  But  at  all  events,  such  a  let 
ter  from  this  quarter  is  as  high  a  recompense 
as  I  can  receive  —  in  this  way.  But  it  loses 
its  peculiar  value  to  me,  for  my  father  cannot 
read  it  with  me." 

Unspoiled  by  praise,  Prescott  thought  chiefly 
of  the  pleasure  which  the  honor  done  him  would 
give  to  others.  Thus  on  April  23,  1845,  he 
noted :  — 


150       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

"  In  my  laziness  I  forgot  to  record  at  the 
time  the  greatest  academic  honor  I  have  re 
ceived  —  the  greatest  I  shall  ever  receive  — 
my  election  as  corresponding  member  of  the 
French  Institute  of  the  Academy  of  Moral  and 
Political  Science.  I  was  chosen  to  fill  the 
vacancy  made  by  the  death  of  the  illustrious 
Navarrete.  .  .  .  By  the  last  steamer  I  received 
a  diploma  also  from  the  Eoyal  Academy  of 
Berlin  as  corresponding  member  of  the  Class 
of  Philosophy  and  History.  This  body,  over 
which  Humboldt  presides,  and  which  has  been  . 
made  famous  by  the  learned  labors  of  Niebuhr, 
Raumer,  Ranke,  etc.,  etc.,  ranks  next  to  the 
Institute  among  the  greatest  Academies  of  the 
Continent.  Such  testimonies  from  a  distant 
land  are  the  real  rewards  of  the  scholar. 
What  pleasure  would  they  have  given  to 
my  dear  father !  I  feel  as  if  they  came  too 
late!" 

In  a  final  note  on  the  flattering  reception 
of  his  "  Conquest  of  Mexico  "  by  both  the  pub 
lic  and  scholars,  Prescott  wrote,  character 
istically,  "  It  is  somewhat  enervating,  and 
has  rather  an  unwholesome  effect  to  podder 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  MEXICO         151 

long  over  these  personalities.  The  best  course 
is  action  —  things  not  self  —  at  all  events 
not  self-congratulation.  So  now  I  propose  to 
dismiss  all  further  thoughts  of  my  literary 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  "CONQUEST  OF  PERU" 

PKESCOTT'S  "  Peru "  was  of  the  nature  of  a 
by-product.  Much  of  the  materials  —  Munoz, 
Navarrete,  and  the  others  —  that  gave  him 
Cortes  gave  him  also  Pizarro.  The  historian 
pressed  on  quickly  after  his  "  Mexico "  and 
wrote  his  thousand  octavo  pages  on  the  "  Con 
quest  of  Peru  "  in  what  was,  for  him,  the  short 
space  of  two  years.  This  did  not  mean  scamped 
work.  It  signified,  rather,  collections  in  hand 
and  mastery  of  method.  He  was  himself  hu 
morously  appalled  at  his  rapid  progress. 

"  I  began  composition  Wednesday ;  finished 
Saturday  noon  ;  about  three  days,  or  more  than 
twelve  pages  print  per  diem.  I  never  did  so 
much,  I  think,  before  in  the  same  time,  though 
I  have  done  more  in  a  single  day.  At  this 
rate,  I  should  work  up  the  '  Peru '  —  the  two 
volumes  —  in  just  about  two  months.  Lord, 
deliver  me !  What  a  fruitful  author  I  might 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU  153 

become,  were  I  so  feloniously  intent !  Felo  de 
se,  it  would  be  more  than  all  others." 

July  28,  1845.  "  At  this  rate  I  shall  turn 
off  a  brace  of  octavos  a  year !  ...  It  would 
not  be  decent,  nor  politic,  to  turn  out  histories 
like  romances  —  people  would  not  believe 
them !  —  any  more  than  the  writers  of  them 
do.  For  do  our  best  —  what  is  truth  —  and 
where  ?  Not  in  the  records  of  stupid  soldiers, 
false  priests,  and  credulous  chroniclers." 

August  15, 1845.  "  Great  doings  for  so  long 
a  stretch  —  and  would  carry  me  through  more 
than  1000  pages  per  annum !  ,  .  .  Lucky  for 
the  world  I  am  not  starving !  " 

December  26,  1845.  "  If  I  can  once  get  in 
harness  and  at  work  I  shall  do  well  —  but  my 
joints  are  stiff,  I  think,  as  I  grow  old.  So,  to 
give  myself  a  start,  I  have  made  a  wager  with 
Otis  that  I  will  reel  off  at  least  one  page  per 
diem  for  four  months.  ...  If  I  can't  do  this, 
it  must  be  a  gone  case  and  Pizarro  may  look 
to  have  his  misdeeds  shown  up  by  a  better  pen. 
.  .  .  When  I  have  the  great  reign  of  Philip 
the  Prudent  to  prosecute,  I  will,  God  willing, 
conclude  '  The  History  of  the  Conquest  of 


154       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Peru  '  by  December  31,  '46.  .  .  .  Shame  on 
me  if  I  faH." 

January  11,  1846.  "A  miracle — I  have 
kept  my  resolve  thus  far  and  been  industrious 
three  whole  days  !  Now,  meliora  spero." 

He  was  none  too  deeply  in  love  with  his 
subject  —  "  second-rate,"  he  voted  it  to  him 
self  ;  "  quarrels  of  banditti  over  their  spoils." 
j  He  also  felt  an  artistic  lack  in  his  theme :  - 

April  23,  1845.  "  Its  great  defect  is  want 
of  unity.  ...  A  consecutive  tissue  of  adven 
tures,  .  .  .  but  not  the  especial  interest  that 
belongs  to  the  '  Iliad '  and  to  the  '  Conquest 
of  Mexico,'  —  a  story,  by  the  way,  which  Che 
valier,  in  his  critique,  rightly  regards  as  supe 
rior  to  the  '  Iliad '  in  true  epic  proportion  and 
capabilities.  .  .  .  Variety,  variety  is  the  se 
cret  of  interest.  Expectation  is  another.  .  .  . 
Deal  candidly  but  with  stern  candor  in  describ 
ing  the  deeds  and  misdeeds  of  the  Conquerors ; 
and  never  call  hard  names,  a  la  Southey.  It  is 
unhistorical,  unphilosophical,  ungentlemanlike. 
.  .  .  But  beware  of  Robertson.  Never  glance 
at  him  till  after  subject  moulded  in  my  mind 
and  thrown  into  language." 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU  155 

Swift,  but  in  accordance  with  law,  to  use 
his  favorite  quotation  from  the  Italian  poet, 
he  pushed  on  his  work,  finishing  it  only  two 
months  after  his  vowed  Christmas  of  1846. 

One  more  indication  of  Prescott's  industry 
at  this  period  may  be  taken  from  his  private 
records :  — 

May  4,  1846.  "My  fiftieth  birthday;  a 
half  century !  This  is  getting  on  with  a  ven 
geance.  It  is  one  of  those  frightful  halting- 
places  in  a  man's  life,  that  may  make  him 
reflect  a  little.  But  half  a  century  is  too  long 
a  road  to  be  looked  over  in  half  an  hour ;  so 
I  will  defer  it  —  till  when  ?  .  But  what  have  I 
done  the  last  year  ?  Not  misspent  much  of  it. 
The  first  eleven  months,  from  April  26th,  1845, 
to  March  26th,  1846,  I  wrote  five  hundred 
and  twenty  pages,  text  and  notes,  of  my  '  Con 
quest  of  Peru.'  The  quantity  is  sufficient,  and, 
in  the  summer  especially,  my  industry  was  at 
fever-heat.  But  I  fear  I  have  pushed  the  mat 
ter  indiscreetly." 

The  indiscretion  was  in  overstraining  his 
eye.  He  injured  it  severely,  "  Heaven  knows 
how,"  he  wrote,  "  probably  by  manuscript- 


156       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

digging."  His  resolve  was  to  depend  more  and 
more  upon  the  vision  of  others.  Not  much  later 
than  this,  after  taking  advice  from  the  best 
oculists  of  the  day  in  New  York  and  Boston, 
he  determined  to  "  relinquish  all  use  of  the  eye 
for  the  future  in  studies,  and  to  be  content  if 
I  can  preserve  it  for  the  more  vulgar  purposes 
of  life." 

The  "  Conquest  of  Peru  "  was  published  in 
March,  1847.  The  Harpers  paid  him  17500 
on  the  day  of  publication  —  at  the  rate  of  one 
dollar  a  copy  —  terms,  Ticknor  remarks,  "  more 
liberal  than  had  ever  been  offered  for  a  work 
of  grave  history  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic." 
The  English  rights  were  bought  by  Bentley 
for  $4000.  Before  this,  Prescott  had  made  a 
note  on  the  value  of  his  copyrights. 

May  4,  1846.  "  The  Harpers  give  me  good 
accounts  of  my  works.  They  consider  my  copy 
rights  as  worth  no  less  than  $25,000  apiece. 
If  I  allow  only  half  that  sum,  which  I  should 
be  very  loath  to  take  for  them,  the  amount, 
with  about  $30,000  I  have  already  received 
on  the  two  histories,  will  swell  up  to  a  very 
pretty  little  honorarium  for  my  literary  lum- 


THE  CONQUEST   OF  PERU  157 

ber.  .  .  .  My  hours  have  been  since  my  re 
turn  [from  New  York]  a  fortnight  ago  sadly 
broken  up  by  sitting  for  my  portrait  to  West 
—  not  for  myself  but  for  some  unknown  who 
has  thought  it  worth  paying  for.  It  is  a  cruel 
moth,  eating  up  time  and  temper.  But  it  will 
go  hard  before  I  sit  for  another.  Yet  I  should 
like  to  get  one  satisfactory  likeness  —  as  those 
hitherto  taken  have  not  pleased  my  friends." 

Prescott  had  pleasant  personal  relations  with 
a  young  man  destined  to  become  the  first  au 
thority  on  Peru.  Clements  (afterwards  Sir 
Clements)  R.  Markham  wrote  from  London 
on  March  5,  1856  :  — 

"  The  perusal  of  your  charming  '  Conquest ' 
at  a  time  when  I  was  serving  on  the  west  coast 
of  South  America  first  gave  me  a  wish  to  see 
Cuzco,  and  steadily  keeping  this  wish  in  view 
I  was  on  my  road  to  gratify  it  when  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  spending  a  few  agreeable  days  at 
Pepperell  in  1852." 

It  was  in  reference  to  this  visit  that  Mark- 
ham  testified  of  Prescott :  - 

"  He  it  was  who  encouraged  me  to  under 
take  my  Peruvian  investigations,  and  to  perse- 


158       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

vere  in  them.  To  his  friendly  advice  and  assist 
ance  I  owe  more  than  I  can  say,  and  to  him  is 
due,  in  no  small  degree,  the  value  of  anything 
I  have  since  been  able  to  do  in  furtherance 
of  Peruvian  research." 

Markham's  mature  verdict  on  Prescott's 
"Peru"  was  ("Academy,"  No.  95)  :  "It  de 
servedly  stands  in  the  first  rank  as  a  judicious 
history  of  the  Conquest."  This  competent 
critic  does  not  deny,  in  his  masterly  elucida 
tions  of  early  Peruvian  history,  that  Prescott 
needs  largely  to  be  supplemented  in  all  that 
relates  to  Inca  civilization.  Of  the  elaborate 
researches  now  available,  the  historian  of  sixty 
years  ago  was  necessarily  ignorant.  But  he 
knew  all  that  was  to  be  known  at  the  time  ; 
he  sifted  his  authorities  with  enormous  dili 
gence  and  much  acumen  ;  and  produced  a  work 
which,  while  contributing  only  a  little  to  the 
philosophy  of  history,  brought  out  stores  of 
information  conveyed  in  animated  narrative. 

Among  the  many  letters  which  the  "  Con 
quest  of  Peru  "  brought  Prescott,  only  one, 
not  before  published,  need  be  referred  to  here. 
It  touches  American  literature  on  the  quaint 


THE  CONQUEST  OF  PERU  159 

side.  K.  G.  Haliburton  writes  from  Halifax, 
April  9,  1857,  saying  that  he  is  engaged  in 
investigating  the  popular  customs  of  various 
peoples  and  in  trying  to  trace  them  to  their 
source.  He  submits  to  Prescott  two  ques 
tions  :  — 

1.  Was  the  Peruvian  plough  in  the  form  of 
a  cross  ? 

2.  A  certain   instrument    (described)   was 
found  in  the  hand  of  a  statue  discovered  by 
Stephens  in  Central  America  ;  could  Mr.  Pres 
cott  give  him  any  light  upon  the  question  of 
its  use  and  significance  ? 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  ENGLISH  VISIT 

IN  the  journal  for  June  16,  1839,  occurs  this 
entry :  "  Received  a  pleasant  letter  from  Mr. 
Kenyon,  who  quotes  Sydney  Smith  as  saying 
that  if  I  shall  visit  London,  and  can't  swim, 
I  shall  be  drowned,  either  in  their  claret  or 
turtle  soup." 

Prescott's  quiet  addition  was :  — 
"  I  believe  I  can  swim  in  those  seas." 
But  it  was  long  before  he  made  the  plunge. 
The  European  reputation  which  his  "  Ferdi 
nand  and  Isabella  "  won  him,  together  with 
his  exchange  of  private  letters  with  scholars, 
early  brought  Prescott  many  and  warm  invita 
tions  to  go  abroad.  These  he  steadily  with 
stood,  though  often  after  much  hesitation, 
and  it  was  not  until  1850  that  he  yielded, 
partly  on  physicians'  advice.  Extracts  from 
his  journal  show  his  decisions  —  and  his  va 
cillations  —  on  the  subject :  — 


THE  ENGLISH   VISIT  161 

January  26,  1841.  "Now  why  should  I 
not  go  ahead  ?  Because  I  am  thinking  of  going 
to  England !  .  .  .  My  mind  is  distracted  with 
the  pros  and  cons." 

March  11,  1841.  "Have  decided  at  length 
—  after  as  much  doubt  and  deliberation  as 
most  people  would  take  for  a  voyage  round  the 
world  —  and  decided  not  to  go  to  England. 
...  I  consider  my  free,  full,  and  final  deter 
mination  now  as  settling  the  question  forever, 
respecting  a  visit  to  Europe,  whither  I  shall 
never  go  nor  think  of  going,  except  for  impor 
tant  business  exacting  it  —  or  with  my  own 
family." 

June  1,  1846.  "I  wish  also  to  be  free  for 
a  voyage  there  [England]  if  I  so  dispose,  next 
Spring." 

Sailing  from  New  York  on  the  22d  of  May, 
1850,  Prescott  had  a  seasick  passage.  Though 
spending  so  large  a  part  of  his  summers  by  the 
sea,  he  was  a  poor  sailor,  and  he  wrote  to  his 
wife  from  the  steamer  Niagara,  June  3  :  — 

"Nothing  can  redeem  the  utter  wretched 
ness  of  a  sea  life  —  and  never  will  I  again  put 
my  foot  in  a  steamer,  except  for  Yankee  land, 


162       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

and,  if  I  were  not  ashamed,  should  reembark 
in  the  Saturday  steamer  from  Liverpool,  and 
settle  the  wager  in  another  fortnight." 

He  also  wrote  :  — 

"This  sea  life  is  even  worse  than  I  thought 
it  was.  I  had  forgotten  half  its  miseries.  I 
will  never  trust  a  man  hereafter  who  talks 
complacently  of  it.  As  to  Kirk  [his  private 
secretary]  he  has  been  actively  sick  ever  since 
we  left  Halifax.  For  myself,  I  have  had  a 
basis  of  nausea  that  turns  my  stomach  against 
everything  I  usually  like.  Chewing  camomile 
is  my  best  satisfaction  —  almost  as  bad  off  as 
Milton's  devils  with  their  dust  apples." 

But  from  the  moment  of  landing  in  Liver 
pool  he  was  in  the  warmest  air  of  English 
hospitality,  and,  throughout  his  stay,  was  over 
whelmed  with  the  most  flattering  attentions 
by  the  leaders  of  society  and  the  lights  of  the 
learned  world.  A  large  bundle  of  the  invitations 
which  the  season  brought  him  is  preserved 
among  his  papers.  He  was,  in  fact,  one  of  the 
lions  of  the  year.  When  Lockhart  met  him,  it 
was  with  the  remark,  "  You  and  the  Nepaulese 
ambassador  are  the  lions  of  London,  I  believe." 


THE  ENGLISH  VISIT  163 

"And  the  Hippopotamus,"  Prescott  added 
readily.  His  Nepaulese  rival  he  described  to 
his  wife :  "  He  is  walking  about  here  at  the 
evening  parties  with  a  huge  necklace  of  rough 
emeralds,  a  scarlet  petticoat  well  garnished 
with  pearls,  and  a  head-gear  made  of  the  beak 
of  a  bird,  six  inches  high." 

Ticknor  was  not  far  wrong  in  saying  that 
Prescott's  was  "the  most  brilliant  visit  ever 
made  to  England  by  an  American  citizen  not 
clothed  with  the  prestige  of  official  station." 
The  justifying  letters  are  largely  given  in  the 
two  chapters  devoted  to  the  episode  in  the 
"Life."  Ticknor  took  certain  liberties  with 
the  text.  His  severe  pen  struck  out  passages 
wherein  the  Yankee  levity  of  his  compatriot 
seemed  too  daring  —  especially  when  in  the 
presence  of  royal  personages.  Thus  Prescott's 
description  of  the  young  queen  at  Castle  How 
ard  is  amusingly  toned  down  and  now  and 
then  boldly  altered.  It  is  evident  that,  through 
all  the  round  of  sight-seeing  and  entertain 
ment  the  historian  remained  wholly  himself. 
Whether  with  his  titled  friends,  or  in  the  com 
pany  of  Hallam  and  Macaulay,  Ford  and 


164       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Thackeray,  Rogers  and  Milman,  he  lost  neither 
his  native  charm  nor  his  native  simplicity  and 
shrewdness.  Going  to  England  with  a  high 
"  preconceived  estimate  of  the  English  char 
acter,"  he  found  it  raised  by  his  experience. 
Yet  he  allowed  his  critical  faculty  full  play  as 
respects  "  the  great-little  island,"  and  felt  the 
pull  of  his  native  land  through  all.  "  I  was 
not  in  my  own  dear  wild  America,"  he  wrote 
to  his  wife,  when  explaining  his  longing  to 
see  "  a  ragged  fence  or  an  old  stump,  or  a  bit 
of  rock,  or  even  a  stone  as  big  as  one's  fist," 
in  the  passage  through  the  well-kept  country 
between  Liverpool  and  London. 

A  few  intimate  bits  may  be  rescued  from 
the  letters  which  Ticknor  passed  by :  — 

LONDON,  June  7,  1850. 

It  was  a  rich  cit's  dinner  —  dull  eno'  —  and 
concluded  by  a  clergyman  —  a  great  gun  here 
—  making  an  exposition  of  a  verse  or  two  of 
"  Revelations "  —  a  hopeful  theme.  In  the 
midst  of  the  lecture  a  mischievous  clock  in 
the  room  struck  ten  —  and  at  once  went  off 
with  a  waltz,  running  it  off  merrily,  as  if  to 


THE  ENGLISH  VISIT  165 

distance  the  preacher.  The  poor  host  was  in 
great  alarm  —  tried  in  vain  to  throttle  the 
imp ;  the  more  he  tried,  the  louder  the  tunes 
it  played;  till  the  good  divine  was  fairly 
silenced.  Is  it  not  a  strange  style  of  things 
at  a  dinner  ?  But  they  tell  me  here  it  is  not 
likely  I  shall  meet  with  such  an  experience 
again. 

LONDON,  June  9, 1850. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  evening,  as  I  was 
talking  with  the  Duchess  of  Leeds  —  one  of 
the  Catons  (Louisa)  who  has  grown  coarser, 
with  a  bad  complexion  —  a  rather  striking-look 
ing  Jewish  cast  of  physiognomy,  with  long  love 
locks,  attracted  my  eye,  and  she  said,  "  That 
is  Disraeli,  would  you  like  to  know  him?" 
"  Pray,"  said  he,  "  are  you  related  to  the  great 
American  author  —  the  author  of  the  Spanish 
Histories  ?  "  I  squeezed  his  arm,  telling  him 
that  I  could  not  answer  for  the  greatness,  but 
I  was  the  man  himself  ;  and  though  at  first  he 
was  a  little  confused  —  as  one  or  two  near 
smiled  at  the  blunder  —  we  had  a  merry 
chat. 


166       WILLIAM  HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

June  11,  1850. 

The  lunch   [with  Ford]  was  all  Spanish,  — 
Spanish    wines,  —  delicious  ;    Spanish   dishes, 
which  good  breeding  forced  me  to  taste,  but 
no  power  could  force  me  to  eat,  for  they  were 
hotter  than  the  Inquisition. 

June  30,  1850. 

The  Prince  did  me  the  honor  to  say  a  few 
words  to  me.  He  asked  me,  of  course,  how  long 
I  had  been  here,  said  he  believed  this  was  not 
my  first  visit  to  the  country,  and  expressed  his 
satisfaction  that  I  had  now  repeated  my  visit. 
To  all  which  I  replied  with  wonderful  pre 
sence  of  mind,  "  Your  Royal  Highness  does 
me  honor."  I  was  introduced,  by  the  bye,  at 
Hallam's  the  other  day,  to  a  gentleman  whom 
I  thought  he  called  Ld.  Aberdeen.  Hallam  in 
introducing  me  made  a  little  flourish  about  my 
being  already  known,  etc.,  and  as  I  like  to 
give  tit  for  tat  on  such  occasions,  as  far  as 
may  be,  I  said,  "  And  the  name  of  the  person 
to  whom  I  have  the  honor  of  being  intro 
duced  is  also  known  wherever  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  is  to  be  found."  Afterwards  at  dinner  I 


THE  ENGLISH  VISIT  167 

observed  that  this  individual  with  whom  I  had 
then  no  further  talk,  seemed  very  shy  when 
ever  I  attempted  to  address  him  across  the 
table.  On  my  asking  the  lady  next  me  if  this 
was  not  Lord  Aberdeen  she  said  it  was  Lord 
Harry  Vane. 

LONDON,  July  18, 1850. 

Lockhart  showed  us  the  diary  of  Sir  Walter. 
He  (Lockhart)  had  two  copies  of  it  printed  for 
himself.  One  of  them  was  destroyed  in  printing 
the  memoir,  for  which  he  made  extracts.  One 
he  did  not  make  because  the  party  was  living. 
It  was  this  :  "  We  dined  at  Sam  Rogers'  etc. 
He  told  me  that  it  was  recommended  to  print 
the  Italian  on  the  opposite  pages  of  Rose's 
translation  of  Ariosto,  in  order  the  better  to 
understand  the  English. " 

LONDON,  September  4,  1850. 
Just  seen  old  Rogers,  for  the  last  time,  — 
Cato  the  Censor  Atticized.  He  was  in  his  draw 
ing-room,  preparing  to  go  to  Brighton,  and  says 
he  has  humbugged  the  world  this  time. 

Rogers  had  been  desperately  ill  and  not  ex 
pected  to  live  —  hence  the  "  humbug." 


168       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

For  a  contemporary  English  account  of  the 
impression  which  Prescott  made  upon  the  Eng 
lish  society  in  which  he  was  so  welcome,  an 
extract  may  be  taken  from  a  privately  printed 
memoir  by  Sir  William  Stirling :  — 

"  Amongst  the  many  occasions  when  it  was 
the  good  fortune  of  the  author  of  this  sketch 
to  meet  Mr.  Prescott,  there  is  one  which  has 
especially  stamped  itself  on  his  memory.  It 
was  on  a  delightful  summer  day,  at  a  dinner 
given  at  the  4  Trafalgar,'  at  Greenwich,  by  Mr. 
Murray,  of  Albemarle  Street.  Of  that  small 
and  well-chosen  circle,  the  brightest  lights  are, 
alas !  already  quenched.  The  festive  humor  of 
Ford  will  no  more  enliven  the  scene  he  loved 
so  well ;  nor  will  the  wit  of  Lockhart  and  the 
wisdom  of  Hallam  evermore  brighten  or  adorn 
banquets  like  that  at  which  they  met  their 
fellow-laborer  from  the  New  World.  Every 
thing  was  in  perfection,  —  the  weather,  the 
preliminary  stroll  beneath  the  great  chestnut- 
trees  in  Greenwich  Park,  the  cool  upper  room 
with  its  balcony  overhanging  the  river,  the 
dinner,  from  the  prefatory  water-souchy  to 
the  ultimate  deviled  white-bait,  the  assortment, 


THE   ENGLISH   VISIT  169 

spirits,  and  conversation  of  the  guests.  On  our 
return  to  town  in  the  cool  of  the  summer  night, 
it  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  present  writer 
to  sit  beside  Mr.  Prescott,  on  the  box  of  the 
omnibus  which  Mr.  Murray  had  chartered  for 
his  party.  It  was  there  that  the  historian  re 
lated  to  him  the  fortunes  of  his  first  historical 
work.  He  likewise  described  with  great  zest 
a  more  recent  incident  of  his  life.  Some  days 
before  that,  he  had  dined  with  the  late  Sir 
Robert  Peel.  With  the  punctuality  which  was 
very  noticeable  amidst  all  the  bustle  of  Mr. 
Prescott' s  endless  London  engagements,  he  was 
in  Whitehall  gardens  at  the  precise  moment 
indicated  on  the  card  of  invitation.  It  followed, 
as  a  natural  result,  that  he  was  for  some  min 
utes  the  sole  occupant  of  the  drawing-room. 
In  due  time,  Sir  Robert  walked  in,  very  bland 
and  a  little  formal,  somewhat  more  portly  than 
he  appeared  on  the  canvas  of  Lawrence,  some 
what  less  rotund  than  he  was  wont  to  be  fig 
ured  in  the  columns  of  '  Punch.'  Although 
not  personally  known  to  his  host,  Mr.  Prescott 
took  for  granted  that  his  name  had  been  an 
nounced.  It  was  to  his  great  surprise,  there- 


170       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

fore,  that  he  found  himself  addressed  in  French. 
He  replied  in  the  same  language,  inly  musing 
whether  he  had  been  mistaken  for  somebody 
else,  or  whether  to  speak  French  to  all  persons 
from  beyond  the  sea  was  the  etiquette  of  Brit 
ish  statesmanship,  or  the  private  predilection 
of  Peel.  After  some  introductory  topics  had 
been  got  over,  he  was  still  further  mystified 
by  finding  the  dialogue  turned  towards  the 
drama,  and  being  complimented  on  his  great 
success  in  that  unfamiliar  walk  of  letters.  The 
astonished  historian  was  making  the  reply  which 
his  native  modesty  dictated,  when  a  second 
guest,  a  friend  of  his  own,  entered,  and  ad 
dressed  both  of  them  in  English.  Mr.  Prescott 
had  been  mistaken  for  M.  Scribe,  —  a  blun 
der  ludicrous  enough  to  those  who  know  the 
contrast  that  existed  between  the  handsome 
person  of  the  historian,  and  the  undistinguished 
appearance  of  the  most  prolific  of  modern  play 
wrights.  By  a  curious  chance,  M.  Scribe  did 
not  arrive  until  a  large  party  of  political  and 
literary  celebrities  were  seated  at  dinner,  and 
Mr.  Prescott  concluded  his  story  by  remarking 


THE  ENGLISH  VISIT  171 

on  the  graceful  kindness  with  which  Sir  Rob 
ert  hastened  to  meet  him  at  the  door,  and 
smoothed  the  foreigner's  way  to  a  place  amongst 
strangers." 


CHAPTER  XIV 
PERSONAL  TRAITS 

GEORGE  HILLARD,  writing  to  Prescott  in  1844, 
spoke  impulsively  of  "that  warm  heart  of 
yours  which  makes  those  who  have  the  privi 
lege  of  being  your  friends  entirely  forget  that 
you  are  a  great  historian,  and  only  think  of 
you  as  a  person  to  be  loved."  This  is  but  one 
of  a  hundred  testimonies  to  Prescott's  extraor 
dinary  personal  charm  that  might  be  cited. 
He  was  a  universal  social  favorite.  "  If  I  were 
asked,"  said  Theophilus  Parsons,  "  to  name  the 
man  whom  I  have  known  whose  coming  was 
most  sure  to  be  hailed  as  a  pleasant  event  by 
all  whom  he  approached,  I  should  not  only 
place  Prescott  at  the  head  of  the  list,  but  I 
could  not  place  any  other  man  near  him."  It 
was  not  that  he  was  a  professional  diner-out, 
still  less  the  even  more  portentous  being,  a  pro 
fessional  teller  of  stories  and  retailer  of  smart 
sayings.  Prescott  used  sometimes  to  make 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  173 

horrible  puns,  it  is  true,  but  his  social  manner 
had  its  immense  attraction  mainly  through  un 
failing  kindness,  unerring  sympathy,  and  viva 
cious  good  spirits  which  nothing  could  depress. 
It  was  his  simplicity  and  spontaneity  which 
delighted  everybody.  This  is  illustrated  by  a 
letter  from  Mr.  G.  T.  Curtis  to  Mr.  Hillard. 
"  Prescott,  the  historian,"  he  writes,  "  not  yet 
an  author,  was  at  that  time  in  the  full  flush  of 
his  early  manhood,  running  over  with  animal 
spirits,  which  his  studies  and  self-discipline 
could  not  quench  ;  talking  with  a  joyous  aban 
don,  laughing  at  his  own  inconsequences,  recov 
ering  himself  gayly,  and  going  on  again  in  a 
graver  strain,  which  soon  gave  way  to  some 
new  joke  or  brilliant  sally.  Wherever  he  came 
there  was  always  a  '  fillip '  to  the  discourse,  be 
it  of  books  or  society,  or  reminiscences  of  for 
eign  travel,  or  the  news  of  the  day." 

Sometimes  this  native  spontaneity  of  his 
betrayed  him  into  an  unconscious  malapropos. 
"  What  have  I  said  ?  "  he  would  cry  out  when 
he  saw  his  wife,  who  kept  a  dutiful  watch  upon 
these  lapses  of  his,  looking  at  him  severely. 
Once  a  titled  Englishwoman  was  arguing  with 


174       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

him  in  his  own  home  on  the  subject  of  Amer 
icanisms.  She  objected  strongly  to  our  use  of 
the  word  "  snarl "  in  the  sense  of  confusion. 
"  Why,  surely,"  spoke  up  Prescott  in  all  inno 
cence,  "you  would  say  that  your  ladyship's 
hair  is  in  a  snarl  ?  "  As  such  unfortunately 
was  the  case  at  the  moment  —  and  it  was  the 
day  of  smooth  braids  and  polished  bands  — 
the  visitor  had  to  cool  her  wrath  by  remem 
bering  that  her  host  was  blind.  He  used  to 
enjoy  little  dinners  which  he  called  "  crony- 
ings."  His  friend  from  boyhood,  Gardiner, 
describes  one  of  the  latest  of  these  occa 
sions  :  — 

"  It  was  at  my  own  house,  either  on  the  last 
day  of  January,  or  one  of  the  earliest  days  of 
February,  1858.  It  was  a  party  so  small  that 
it  hardly  deserves  the  name.  Prescott  and  two 
of  his  most  intimate  friends,  besides  myself 
and  my  family,  were  all  who  filled  a  small 
round  table.  He  had  suffered  during  the  past 
year  from  frequent  and  severe  headaches ;  a 
source  of  more  uneasiness  to  his  friends  than 
to  himself,  for  he  never  attributed  these  head 
aches  to  what  the  event  proved  them  to  be.  He 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  175 

thought  them  either  neuralgic,  or  a  new  phase 
of  his  old  enemy,  rheumatism ;  nothing  that 
required  extraordinary  care.  For  a  few  days 
past  he  had  been  unusually  free  from  them, 
and  this  day  he  was  particularly  bright  and 
clear.  From  the  beginning  he  was  in  one  of 
his  most  lively  and  amusing  moods.  The  la 
dies  were  induced  by  it  to  linger  longer  at 
the  table  than  usual.  When  they  had  left,  the 
whole  company  was  reduced  to  only  a  party 
of  four,  but  of  very  old  friends,  each  of  whom 
was  stored  with  many  reminiscences  of  like 
occasions,  running  far  back  into  younger  days. 
Prescott  overflowed  with  the  full  tide  of  mirth 
belonging  to  those  days.  It  was  a  gush  of  rare 
enjoyment.  After  nearly  five  years,  the  date 
at  which  I  write,  I  cannot  recall  a  thing  that 
was  said.  Probably  nothing  was  said  in  itself 
worth  recalling,  nothing  that  would  bear  to 
stand  alone  on  cold  paper.  But  all  that  quick- 
wittedness,  lively  repartee,  sparkling  humor, 
exceeding  naivete,  and  droll  manner  of  saying 
droll  things,  for  which  he  was  so  remarkable 
when  he  let  himself  out  with  perfect  freedom, 
were  brought  into  full  play.  And  then  he 


176       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

laughed,  as  he  only  could  laugh,  at  next  to 
nothing,  when  he  was  in  one  of  these  moods, 
and  made  us  inevitably  laugh  too,  almost  as 
the  Cambridge  professor  did  according  to  his 
own  story.  He  stayed,  too,  considerably  be 
yond  his  usual  time,  the  rarest  of  all  things 
with  him.  But  he  had  come  bent  on  having 
*  a  good  time,'  —  it  was  so  long,  he  said,  since 
he  had  had  one,  —  and  laid  out  for  it  accord 
ingly. 

"  On  comparing  notes  a  few  days  afterwards 
with  the  two  friends  who  were  present,  we  all 
agreed  that  we  had  not  seen  '  the  great  his 
torian  '  for  years  in  such  a  state  of  perfect 
youthful  abandonment." 

From  the  pen  of  Samuel  Eliot  we  have  an 
account  of  the  home  life  of  Prescott  at  his 
country  place  in  Pepperell.  Here  the  man  of 
whom  a  friend  said  that  he  "  could  be  happy 
in  more  ways  and  more  happy  in  every  one 
of  them  than  any  other  person  I  have  ever 
known,"  passed  his  happiest  hours.  Work  went 
on  as  usual,  but  did  not  seem  to  be  his  princi 
pal  interest.  This  lay  in  "the  enjoyment  of 
the  family  and  the  friends  forming  a  portion 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  177 

of  the  family ;  the  drive  or  the  walk ;  the  gay 
dinner  ;  the  evening  with  readings,  but  oftener 
and  more  delightfully  with  games  and  songs." 
One  game  in  particular  was  an  especial  favor 
ite  with  Prescott.  It  was  called  Albano,  be 
cause  introduced  by  some  young  friends  of  his 
who  had  played  it  in  Rome.  It  was  really  only 
a  variant  of  Puss  in  the  Corner.  The  players 
chose  names  from  the  four  quarters  of  the 
globe  ;  but  the  one  which  Prescott  took,  and 
which  he  never  shouted  out  without  provoking 
tumultuous  outbursts  of  glee,  was  Nessitisset. 
It  was  the  name  of  the  stream  flowing  by  his 
farm.  Eliot  also  tells  of  a  comic  dispute  which 
once  occurred  at  Pepperell  between  Prescott 
an&  his  uncle,  Isaac  Davis.  The  old  gentle 
man  complained  of  growing  deaf,  but  Prescott 
maintained  that  his  uncle's  hearing  was  as 
good  as  his  own.  To  decide  the  matter,  he  had 
his  wife  hang  an  old-fashioned  watch  at  the  end 
of  the  room,  and  the  two  men  advanced  slowly 
towards  it  to  determine  which  could  first  hear 
the  ticking.  "  Do  you  hear  it,  Davis  ?  "  "  No." 
"Neither  do  I."  So  on,  step  by  step,  until 
in  amazement  Prescott  put  his  ear  actually 


178       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

to  the  timepiece.  "  Susan !  the  thing  is  n't 
going !  "  he  cried  to  the  sly  woman  who  had 
stopped  it. 

"  He  is  forty-five,"  wrote  Sumner  of  Prescott 
in  1841,  "but  with  the  freedom  and  warmth 
and  frolic  of  a  boy."  This  boyish  spirit  and  well 
ing  gayety  Prescott  carried  into  his  work  as 
well  as  his  social  relaxation.  One  of  his  secre 
taries  wrote  that  whenever  the  historian  came 
to  describe  some  stirring  scene,  like  a  battle, 
he  would  humorously  key  himself  up  to  it  by 
bursting  into  song.  One  favorite  was  a  ballad, 
beginning,  "  O,  give  me  but  my  Arab  steed !  " 
He  was  fond  of  music.  Sentimental  songs 
would  sometimes  set  him  weeping.  "  They  are 
only  my  opera  tears,"  he  would  explain.  This 
was  one  sign  of  that  "  simplicity  in  which 
nobleness  of  nature  most  largely  shares,"  to 
quote  the  words  of  Thucydides  which  Professor 
Felton  applied  to  Prescott  after  his  death. 
Such  tributes  could  be  indefinitely  multiplied. 
"  One  of  the  most  frank,  amiable,  warm-hearted, 
and  open-hearted  of  human  beings,"  wrote  Hil- 
lard ;  and  added,  "Of  all  men  I  have  known 
he  was  most  generally  beloved."  It  might  be 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  179 

said  of  Prescott,  as  Sydney  Smith  said  of 
Mackintosh,  that  "  the  gall-bladder  was  omit 
ted  in  his  composition."  "  Not  a  single  unkind 
or  harsh  or  sneering  expression,"  testifies  one 
of  his  secretaries,  "  could  be  found  in  any  of 
the  hundreds  of  letters  I  wrote  at  his  dicta 
tion."  The  same  may  be  said  of  his  private 
journals.  Not  a  line  of  them  need  be  blotted. 
This  man  had  that  even  sweetness  of  temper 
and  exhaustless  benevolence  which  can  endure 
the  searching  test  of  impressions  made  upon 
children  and  servants.  He  was  not  a  hero  to 
his  valet,  but  was  something  better  —  a  man 
to  win  the  undying  respect  and  love  of  all  who 
served  him  in  humblest  offices.  All  his  private 
secretaries  had  an  almost  unbounded  affection 
for  him.  To  children,  his  appearance  was  like 
a  burst  of  sunshine.  He  could  instantly  be 
come  the  playfellow  of  the  youngest.  He  him 
self  had  a  sweet  tooth.  In  his  early  travels  he 
carefuUy  noted,  after  sampling,  the  confection 
ery  of  the  various  countries  he  visited.  Until 
within  a  few  years  a  Boston  druggist  was  liv 
ing  who  used  to  supply  Prescott  regularly  with 
licorice  root  —  that  child's  dainty  of  a  ruder 


180       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

age !  His  grandchildren  recall  the  little  packets 
of  it  which,  with  other  sweets,  he  always  had 
ready  for  them. 

With  his  innocent  fondness  for  the  good 
things  of  life,  and  his  expansive  social  nature, 
Prescott  often  found  it  difficult  to  adhere  to 
hours  and  plans  of  work.  He  did  not,  with 
Tyndall,  hold  society  to  be  the  great  enemy  of 
science,  yet  he  sometimes  found  the  tax  paid 
to  friendship  onerous.  A  boon  companion  of 
his  youth  gives  an  early  instance  of  the  way  in 
which  pleasure  struggled  with  his  rule  of  quit 
ting  any  company  by  ten  o'clock. 

"  Mr.  Prescott  was  the  entertainer,  at  a  re 
staurateur's,  of  an  invited  company  of  young 
men  of  the  bon  vivant  order.  He  took  that 
mode  sometimes  of  giving  a  return  dinner  to 
avoid  intruding  too  much  on  the  hospitality  of 
his  father's  roof,  as  well  as  to  put  at  ease  the 
sort  of  company  which  promised  exuberant 
mirth.  His  dinner  hour  was  set  early  ;  pur 
posely,  no  doubt,  that  all  might  be  well  over 
in  good  season.  But  it  proved  to  be  a  pro 
longed  festivity.  Under  the  brilliant  auspices 
of  their  host,  who  was  never  in  higher  spirits, 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  181 

the  company  became  very  gay,  and  not  at  all 
disposed  to  abridge  their  gayety,  even  after  a 
reasonable  number  of  hours.  As  the  hour  of 
ten  drew  near,  I  noticed  that  Prescott  was 
beginning  to  get  a  little  fidgety,  and  to  drop 
some  hints,  which  no  one  seemed  willing  to 
take,  —  for  no  one  present,  unless  it  were  my 
self,  was  aware  that  time  was  of  any  more 
importance  to  our  host  than  it  was  to  many 
of  his  guests.  Presently,  to  the  general  sur 
prise,  the  host  himself  got  up  abruptly,  and 
addressed  the  company  nearly  as  follows : 
'Really,  my  friends,  I  am  very  sorry  to  be 
obliged  to  tear  myself  from  you  at  so  very 
unreasonable  an  hour ;  but  you  seem  to  have 
got  your  sitting-breeches  on  for  the  night.  I 
left  mine  at  home,  and  must  go.  But  I  am 
sure  you  will  be  very  soon  in  no  condition 
to  miss  me,  —  especially  as  I  leave  behind 
that  excellent  representative,'  -  -  pointing  to  a 
basket  of  several  yet  uncorked  bottles,  which 
stood  in  a  corner.  '  Then  you  know,'  he  added, 
'  you  are  just  as  much  at  home  in  this  house  as 
I  am.  You  can  call  for  what  you  like.  Don't 
be  alarmed,  —  I  mean  on  my  account.  I  aban- 


182       WILLIAM   HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

don  to  you,  without  reserve,  all  my  best  wine, 
my  credit  with  the  house,  and  my  reputation 
to  boot.  Make  free  with  them  all,  I  beg  of 
you,  —  and,  if  you  don't  go  home  till  morning, 
I  wish  you  a  merry  night  of  it.'  With  this  he 
was  off,  and  the  Old  South  clock,  hard  by,  was 
heard  to  strike  ten  at  the  instant." 

A  few  extracts  from  the  journals  will  further 
light  up  this  point :  — 

November  10,  1839.  "Diverted  too  much 
by  passing  objects  —  children's  recitations, 
talking,  etc.  Another  year  arrange  what  hours 
children  may  occupy  the  library  [at  Pepperell] 
—  how  often  ask  questions  about  their  lessons, 
and  allow  a  definite  time  for  them  —  not  to  be 
exceeded."  .  .  . 

February  6, 1842.  "  Have  not  been  superin- 
dustrious  —  on  the  contrary,  I  have  got  through 
with  Dickens,  who  dined  with  me  yesterday, 
and  as  the  lions  are  all  done  up,  I  suspect, 
for  the  season,  I  will  be  true  and  hearty,  al 
most  exclusive,  in  my  own  work  —  till  May  4, 
say,  my  birthday.  My  daily  labor  and  my 
thoughts  by  night.  Eschew  company,  especially 
dining."  .  .  . 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  183 

September  4, 1842.  "  Company  —  company 
—  company !  It  will  make  me  a  misanthrope. 
And  yet  there  is  something  very  interesting 
and  instructive  in  the  conversation  of  travel 
ers  from  distant  regions.  Last  week  we  had 
Calderon  —  just  from  Mexico  —  Stephens 
from  Central  America  and  Yucatan,  General 
Harlan  from  Afghanistan,  where  he  com 
manded  the  native  troops  for  many  years. 
But  what  has  it  all  to  do  with  the  '  Conquest 
of  Mexico'?"  .  .  . 

September  8, 1842.  "  I  am  here  [Pepperell] 
40  miles  from  all  enemies  —  and  friends,  worse 
than  enemies  —  except  a  few  dear  ones."  .  .  . 

November  16,  1842.  "  I  will  see  if  I  can't 
adopt  some  rules  which  shall  secure  me  as 
much  time  in  town  as  country."  .  .  . 

June  24,1843.  "Nahant!  To-day  I  have  been 
settling,  clearing  the  decks  for  action.  Now 
if  I  don't  make  the  powder  and  shot  fly !  I  will 
be  out  to  everybody.  I  will  have  but  one  idea. 
I  will  be  a  free  man  by  September  —  first  week. 
I  will  not  invite  nor  will  I  go  out  to  dine,  and 
very  rarely  have  company  —  once  or  twice 
only  —  and  that  only  at  Nahant,  and  not  sit 


184       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

long  then.  I  will  answer  letters  short  hand, 
and  economize  every  way,  eyes  and  time.  .  .  . 
The  very  day  of  this  entry  a  stranger  came  to 
Nahant  and,  being  refused  admittance  —  I  be 
ing  '  out '  —  staid  over  night  and  passed  all 
the  evening  with  us.  He  came,  he  said,  to 
Boston  to  see  me,  so  what  could  I  do  less  ? 
What  then  becomes  of  the  Conquest  ?  01  /xot 
It  is  no  joke."  .  .  . 

December  14, 1845.  "  Twaddle  —  twaddle  ! 
...  I  will  make  regular  hebdomadal  entries 
of  my  laziness.  I  think  I  can't  stand  the  repe 
tition  of  such  records  long.  ...  I  may  find 
some  apology  in  the  demi-winter  days,  and  in 
an  influx  of  visiting  friends  in  my  new  quar 
ters  —  and  be  hanged  to  them  —  not  the  quar 
ters,  but  the  friends."  .  .  . 

October  1, 1855.  "  Pepperell.  I  shall  have 
at  least  the  sense  of  sweet  security  from  friends 
—  the  worst  foes  to  time." 

The  kindest  and  most  considerate  of  men, 
Prescott  inherited  much  of  the  active  philan 
thropy  of  his  mother.  He  was  interested  in 
many  public  charities.  Particularly  to  the 
Perkins  Institution  for  the  Blind  did  he  give 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  185 

time  and  money.  "  Much  occupied  the  iast  ten 
days  with  the  affairs  of  the  Blind,"  is  an  entry 
of  May  9,  1833,  not  without  its  pathetic  sug 
gestion.  He  had  his  private  pensioners  as  well, 
some  of  whom  were  passed  on  to  him,  so  to 
speak,  from  that  lady  bountiful,  his  mother. 
One  of  his  secretaries  tells  us  that  he  regularly 
gave  away  one  tenth  of  his  income.  The  latter 
was  figured,  in  the  late  forties  (of  course,  after 
his  father  had  died),  at  upwards  of  $12,000  a 
year.  It  spelled  luxury  for  the  times.  Pres- 
cott's  methods  in  almsgiving  were  not  always, 
one  fears,  such  as  would  commend  themselves 
to  the  Charity  Organization  Society.  Here  is 
a  specimen  of  his  minute  accounts,  written 
down  after  taking  a  walk  :  — 

"  Apple  2  —  newspaper  2  —  gloves  1.00  — 
charity  25."  During  his  stay  in  London  he 
employed  a  valet,  one  Penn  ("  a  Penn  I  will 
not  cut,"  was  his  punning  aside  to  his  wife), 
who,  he  wrote  home,  would  be  "  perfectly  in 
valuable  if  he  did  not  drink,  to  which  he  has 
an  amiable  inclination."  There  is  something 
human  in  the  addition,  "  I  will  let  him  get 
drunk  once  before  I  part  with  him." 


186       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Prescott's  Boston  home  was  for  twenty-eight 
years  with  his  father  on  Bedford  Street.  The 
house  was  spacious  and  the  scene  of  warm  hos 
pitality.  "  Shall  I  ever  forget,"  wrote  Lady 
Lyell  to  Prescott  in  1857,  "  the  Thanksgiving 
in  Bedford  Street  ?  Never,  as  long  as  I  live. 
It  is  now  more  than  fifteen  years  ago,  but  still 
I  see  the  rooms,  the  dinner  table,  the  blind- 
man's-buff,  and  the  adjournment  to  your  study 
to  see  Lord  Kingsborough's  4  Mexico.'  "  After 
Judge  Prescott's  death,  the  son  bought,  in  1845, 
the  house  on  Beacon  Street,  No.  55,  where  the 
remainder  of  his  life  was  passed.  A  vivid  re 
minder  of  the  changes  which  time  has  brought 
in  the  city's  topography  may  be  had  from  a 
descriptive  sentence  of  Prescott's  own :  "  My 
house  is  in  Beacon  Street  looking  on  the  Com 
mon,  which  is  an  uncommonly  fine  situation, 
commanding  a  noble  view  of  land  and  water." 

But  he  never  passed  the  entire  twelvemonth 
in  the  city.  Indeed,  his  personal  preference 
would  appear  to  have  been  for  life  in  the  coun 
try  throughout  the  year.  "  I  have  found  the 
country  favorable  to  industry,  health,  and  gen 
eral  cheerfulness." 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  187 

October  6,  1844.  "  How  much  more  correct 
is  the  estimate  one  makes  of  life  and  the  ob 
jects  of  life  —  of  character  and  of  pleasures, 
in  the  silent  solitudes  of  the  country,  than  in 
the  bustling  haunts  and  senseless  hurly-burly 
of  the  city !  And  with  my  contemplated  pur 
suits  how  much  more  congenial!  Yet  should 
I  not  be  lonely  without  a  family  around 
me?" 

It  was,  in  fact,  the  educational  advantages 
for  his  children  which  the  city  could  offer  that 
turned  the  scale.  Still  he  clung  to  the  country 
for  what  he  called  his  "  chronic  "  residence, 
prolonging  the  season  out  of  town.  Besides 
the  ancestral  house  at  Pepperell,  he  had  a 
cottage  at  Nahant  where  he  used  to  spend  the 
earlier  summer  months.  About  this  home  he 
had  two  minds.  Sometimes  it  was  a  "  para 
dise."  Again,  when  fogs  and  chill  air  made 
his  rheumatism  more  acute,  he  was  tempted  to 
say  that  it  should  be  "  nae  haunt  of  mine." 
Indeed,  in  the  later  years  of  his  life,  he  gave 
up  the  site  on  the  rocky  promontory,  and 
bought  a  house  on  the  shore  of  Lynn  Bay,  six 
miles  away.  The  many  months  thus  passed 


188       WILLIAM  HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

by  the  sea  probably  account  for  the  nautical 
metaphors  frequent  in  Prescott's  letters  and 
journals ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he 
was  fond  of  sailing.  His  favorite  exercise  was 
walking  and  riding.  At  Nahant  "Prescott's 
Walk  "  is  still  pointed  out,  and  he  used  to 
do  miles  back  and  forth  under  the  trees  at 
Pepperell.  Horseback  riding  he  kept  up  with 
the  utmost  regularity.  An  entry  in  the 
journal  shows  the  regimen  of  one  who 
might  have  posed  for  Emerson's  "  athletic 
scholar." 

August  10,  1845.  "  Ride  in  saddle  before 
breakfast,  1|  h.  Walk  |  h.  at  noon  under  my 
orchard  shade.  Drive  1|  h.  in  evening.  Walk 
a  mile.  So,  pretty  fair  for  exercise." 

The  historian's  method  of  work  has  been 
described  in  preceding  pages.  It  was  imposed 
upon  him  through  his  having,  like  Thierry,  to 
"make  friends  with  darkness."  One  result 
was  to  develop  an  extraordinary  power  of 
memory.  He  not  only  composed  while  riding 
or  walking,  but  carried  whole  pages,  even 
chapters,  in  his  head  with  verbal  accuracy. 
He  could  even  amend  and  alter  as  freely  as  if 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  189 

the  written  page  lay  before  him.  What  range 
and  grasp  his  memory  had  at  its  prime  may  be 
inferred  from  knowing  that,  when  on  the  third 
volume  of  "Philip  II,"  he  complained  of  the 
fact  that  he  could  not  perfectly  command  more 
than  forty  printed  pages  as  a  proof  of  failing 
powers.  At  the  time  of  his  father's  death  he 
noted  that  the  "  shock  "  wiped  out  the  pages 
he  then  had  in  mind  "  as  completely  as  though 
with  a  sponge."  His  library  and  study  were 
real  workshops.  A  homely  touch  is  given  by 
one  of  his  private  secretaries,  who  tells  us  that 
twenty  pairs  of  old  shoes  were  piled  on  a  step- 
ladder  that  stood  in  a  corner.  Prescott's  jour 
nal  he  kept  largely  out  of  methodic  bent.  But 
he  once  wrote  in  it :  — 

June  28,  1849.  "  I  have  ever  found  it  a 
great  stimulus  to  industry  to  be  able  to  talk 
thus  to  myself.  But  I  cannot  do  this  if  there 
is  another  looking  over  my  shoulder  —  if  I 
write  for  another  to  transcribe." 

And  again  :  — 

"  Let  the  entries  be  brief  and  practical,  and 
set  down  naught  from  vanity,  which  would  be 
very  silly  and  misplaced  here.  Yet  when  will 


190       WILLIAM  HICKL1NG  PRESCOTT 

not  that  pitiful  failing  creep  in  ?  Was  there 
ever  a  creature  too  humble  not  to  have  some 
store  of  it  ?  " 

The  admonitory  entries  are  as  thick  in  Pres- 
cott's  diary  as  they  were  in  Dr.  Johnson's. 
One  amusing  resort  of  his  to  flog  himself  along 
was  his  habit  of  imposing  a  money  forfeit  upon 
the  failure  to  complete  a  given  task  by  a  day 
fixed.  This  device  he  appears  to  have  taken 
up  while  still  in  college.  Very  early  in  his 
journals  we  find  traces  of  the  custom.  Thus 
one  of  his  "  Maxims  of  Composition  "  written 
down  almost  at  the  beginning  reads :  "  Pay  a 
forfeit  if  you  read  a  word  as  you  are  writing 
it  —  if  you  look  over  the  last  3  lines  you  have 
written,  except  it  be  impossible  after  trying 
to  recollect  them  (you  may  at  last  3  words), 
if  you  review  any  except  2  pages  when  I  be 
gin  to  write  in  the  day.  ...  I  may  read  what 
has  been  written  on  the  same  day  in  which  I 
take  this  liberty,  provided  it  shall  be  absolutely 
necessary  to  write  further."  Later,  he  com 
muted  his  system  of  forfeits  into  a  plan  of 
making  wagers  (the  odds  heavily  against  him 
self)  with  his  private  secretaries.  A  memo- 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  191 

randum  of  one  of  them  survives,  and  runs  as 
follows  :  — 

"June  4th  1846.  This  memorandum  is  to 
witness  that  a  bet  of  one  dollar  to  fifty  dol 
lars  has  been  made  between  E.  B.  Otis  and 
W^  H.  Prescott  Esq.,  the  latter  betting  fifty 
dollars  that  he  will  read  for,  compose  and 
write  one  hundred  pages  of  his  'History  of 
Peru'  in  a  hundred  days,  the  days  to  be 
counted  from  the  fourth  day  of  June,  1846, 
inclusive,  making  due  allowance  for  the  ex- 
cepted  days  hereinafter  specified. 

"  This  bet  shall  be  renewed  at  the  end  of 
the  hundred  days  (the  amount,  conditions  and 
exceptions  of  the  second  bet  being  the  same 
in  every  particular  with  those  herein  recited)  ; 
unless  Mr.  Prescott  shall,  within  two  days 
from  the  expiration  of  the  first  period  of  a 
hundred  days,  enter  on  this  memorandum  a 
written  statement  of  his  desire  to  dissolve  the 
Bet.  If  the  History,  including  the  Postscripts, 
should  not  hold  out,  but  should  fall  short  of 
the  second  hundred  pages,  the  wager  shall  be 
construed  pro  rata,  that  is,  Mr.  Prescott  shall 
lose  his  second  bet  of  fifty  dollars  unless  he 


192       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

finishes  the  remainder  of  his  History  at  the 
rate  of  a  page  a  day,  (reckoning  the  days  from 
the  expiration  of  the  first  hundred  days)  for 
every  day  after  the  determination  of  the  first 
wager  till  the  work  is  finished,  with  the  follow 
ing  exceptions. 

"  The  days  to  be  excepted  when  calculating 
the  result  of  either  bet  are  these,  viz : 

"  When  Mr.  Prescott  is  absent  from  town 
for  a  day  or  more,  also  a  day  before  and  after 
return,  also  two  days  must  be  allowed  for 
moving  to  Nahant,  to  Boston  and  to  Pepperell, 
—  each ;  or  when  prevented  from  study  by  the 
sickness  of  himself  or  friends  for  a  day  or 
more,  or  by  the  occurrence  of  any  unforeseen 

(to  be  determined  himself)  also 

event  A  that  might  occupy  him  otherwise,  A  the 
days  employed  in  writing  the  Memoir  of  Mr. 
Pickering ;  (Writing  letters  is  not  an  unfore 
seen  event ;)  also  the  days  that  gentlemen  vis 
itors  stay  in  the  house  with  Mr.  Prescott.  No 
days  shall  be  excepted  but  those  herein  speci 
fied,  and  entered  on  this  sheet. 

"  Weakness  of  the  eyes  shall  not  count  as 
illness  unless  upon  such  days  as  Mr.  Prescott 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  193 

cannot  read  himself  2  hours  and  has  not  his 

the  latter,  (when  Mr.  Prescott  is  unable  to  read  said  two  hours) 

secretary  with  him,  or  A  from  any  cause  is  un- 

Mr.  Prescott 

able  to  read  3  hours  on  any  day  when  A  is  not 
employed  in  composing  text  of  a  chapter  and 
except  working  (not  reading)  causes  pain. 

exclusive  of  reading 

"  If  working  A  causes  pain  for  several  days 
Mr.  Prescott  has  a  right  to  dissolve  this  agree 
ment. 

"  Signed  June  4^ 

"  W*  H.  PRESCOTT, 
"  EDMUND  B.  OTIS. 

"  I  promise  on  my  honor  as  a  gentleman  not 
to  release  Mr.  Prescott  from  any  forfeiture 
that  he  may  incur  by  this  engagement  except 
in  such  cases  as  are  provided  for  in  the  con 
tract  —  this  contract  being  made  at  his  desire 
for  his  own  accommodation  solely. 

"  EDMUND  B.  OTIS. 
"Days  excepted  —  June  7-21,  25,  26,  28, 

July  6-14." 

Prescott  always  took  this  betting  on  his  own 
industry  with  perfect  seriousness.  Sometimes 
he  would  radiantly  greet  his  secretary  with 
"  You  have  lost !  You  owe  me  a  dollar."  And 


194      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

he  would  exact  payment.  Occasionally  he  would, 
with  woebegone  countenance,  produce  and  pay 
over  to  the  protesting  secretary  the  twenty  or 
thirty  dollars  he  himself  had  lost.  It  was  Pres- 
cott's  one  "oddity,"  according  to  a  friend. 
Madame  de  Sevigne,  who  had  a  similar  habit, 
called  it  a  sottise.  "  Je  reviens  a  nos  lectures : 
c'est  sans  prejudice  de  Cleopatre  [a  romance 
in  twelve  octavo  volumes]  que  j'ai  gage  d'ache- 
ver  (vous  savez  comme  je  soutiens  mes  ga- 
geures)  :  je  songe  quelquefois  d'oii  vient  la  folie 
que  j'ai  pour  ces  sottises-la." 

Three  children  survived  Prescott.  The 
happy  marriage  of  his  daughter  Elizabeth  to 
James  Lawrence  gave  him  much  pleasure, 
though  he  wrote :  "  What  shall  I  do  with  two 
nurseries  —  grandchildren  and  a'  that  ?  "  His 
first  daughter  he  lost  in  childhood.  It  was  for 
this  four-year-old  Catherine  that,  at  the  end 
of  one  of  his  noctograph  letters  to  his  wife, 
written  from  Philadelphia,  Prescott  printed  a 
sentence  with  most  painstaking  care :  "I  love 
little  Kitty,  and  will  buy  her  a  work  box  in 
New  York  if  she  is  a  good  girl."  But  on  Feb 
ruary  1, 1829,  this  eldest  child  died.  The  event 


PERSONAL  TRAITS  195 

was,  to  her  father,  not  only  a  source  of  pro 
found  sorrow,  but  the  occasion  of  driving  him 
to  a  close  examination  of  the  foundations  of 
his  religious  faith.  "  The  death  of  my  dearest 
daughter,"  he  wrote  in  his  journal,  "having 
made  it  impossible  for  me  at  present  to  resume 
the  task  of  composition,  I  have  been  naturally 
led  to  more  serious  reflection  than  usual,  and 
have  occupied  myself  in  reviewing  the  evidences 
of  the  Christian  religion."  To  this  work,  with 
characteristic  thoroughness,  he  devoted  many 
weeks.  In  company  with  his  father,  "an  old 
and  cautious  lawyer,"  he  read  thoroughly  the 
various  standard  works  on  the  Evidences,  for 
and  against.  His  conclusion  was  that  the  Gos 
pel  narratives  were  authentic,  though  he  did 
not  find  in  them  the  doctrines  commonly  ac 
counted  orthodox,  and  deliberately  recorded 
his  rejection  of  the  dogmas  of  "  eternal  damna 
tion,  the  Trinity,  the  Deity  of  Christ,  Election 
and  Original  Sin."  Theologically,  therefore, 
he  confirmed  his  belief  in  that  more  liberal 
form  of  Unitarianism  in  which  he  had  been 
reared.  Practically,  he  was  one  to  make  ob 
servers  say  that  his  creed  couldn't  be  wrong, 


196       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

so  reverent  and  pure  was  his  life,  and  so  filled 
with  goodness.  Yet  it  was  this  gentle  and  tol 
erant  man,  abounding  in  all  charity  of  thought 
and  deed,  whom  a  reviewer  in  the  Baltimore 
"  Catholic  Magazine  "  dubbed  a  "  bigot,"  while 
the  Dublin  "  Quarterly  Keview  "  breathed  a 
prayer  for  his  "  conversion  from  spiritual  error." 
Prescott's  sole  comment  in  his  journal  was : 
"  As  I  have  always  considered  charity  as  the 
foundation  of  every  honest  creed,  whether  re 
ligious  or  political,  I  don't  believe  I  deserve 
the  name  of  bigot." 


CHAPTER  XV 
POLITICAL  SYMPATHIES 

IT  was  apropos  of  Prescott,  I  believe,  that 
John  Quincy  Adams  made  the  remark,  "A 
great  historian  has  neither  politics  nor  re 
ligion."  He  meant,  of  course,  bias  as  a  writer. 
But  as  regards  politics,  at  any  rate,  it  has 
been  commonly  thought  that  the  saying  was 
literally  true  of  Prescott.  Ticknor  dismisses 
this  aspect  of  the  man  in  a  cold  sentence 
or  two.  Nor,  in  fact,  did  Prescott  ever  take 
such  a  close  and  keen  interest  in  the  pageant 
of  present  politics,  which  makes  future  history, 
as  did,  for  example,  that  other  historian,  Dr. 
Thomas  Arnold.  Brought  up  a  conservative 
Whig,  and  kept  by  physical  limitations  as 
well  as  by  his  chosen  pursuits  from  the  hurly- 
burly  of  actual  participation  in  public  affairs, 
it  was  only  late  in  life  that  he  gave  evidence  of 
being  deeply  stirred  by  the  conflict  of  political 
doctrines  which  foreshadowed  the  Civil  War. 


198       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

At  once  a  test  and  illustration  of  his  attitude 
we  may  see  in  his  relations  with  Charles  Sum- 
ner.  Friends  early  and  until  parted  by  death, 
the  two  men  had,  at  first,  little  in  common,  po 
litically.  Prescott  had  a  great  admiration  for 
Sunnier,  and  stood  by  him  personally  and 
socially  when  all  blue-blooded  Boston  turned 
its  very  cold  shoulder  upon  the  man  whose 
radicalism,  Ticknor  said,  had  placed  him  out 
side  "the  pale  of  society."  Apropos  of  this 
early  obloquy,  Prescott  wrote  to  Sumner  in 
1851,  reminding  him  how  Judge  Story  had 
suffered  from  "  the  bitterness  of  party  feeling," 
and  adding,  "  Boston  is  worse  than  New  York 
in  this  respect."  Yet  Sumner  understood  per 
fectly  that  Prescott  did  not  go  with  him  polit 
ically.  Writing  to  Lord  Morpeth  in  1847,  he 
said,  "  Prescott  shakes  his  head  because  I  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  thing  [slavery].  His 
insensibility  to  it  is  a  perfect  bathos.  This  is 
wrong :  I  wish  you  would  jar  him  a  little  on 
this  side."  Yet  it  was  only  six  years  later, 
when  Sumner  made  his  great  speech  in  the 
Senate  on  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise,  that  Prescott  wrote,  "  I  don't  see  but 


POLITICAL  SYMPATHIES  199 

what  all  Boston  has  got  round;  in  fact,  we 
must  call  Sumner  the  Massachusetts  Senator." 
Brooks's  assault  on  Sumner  roused  Prescott 
as  no  display  of  the  slavery  spirit  had  before 
done.  "  You  have  escaped  the  crown  of  mar 
tyrdom,"  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  "  by  a  narrow 
chance,  and  have  got  all  the  honors,  which  are 
almost  as  dangerous  to  one's  head  as  a  gutta- 
percha  cane.  There  are  few  in  old  Massachu 
setts,  I  can  assure  you,  who  do  not  feel  that 
every  blow  on  your  cranium  was  a  blow  on 
them."  And  when  the  Senator  returned  to 
receive  the  homage  of  Boston,  Prescott  and  his 
family  waved  a  welcome  to  him,  as  the  proces 
sion  passed,  from  the  balcony  of  their  Beacon- 
Street  house.  Calling  on  Sumner  the  next 
day,  the  historian  told  him  that  if  he  had 
known  there  were  to  be  decorations  and  in 
scriptions  on  the  houses  he  should  have  placed 
on  his  own  these  words :  — 

"  May  22,  1856. 

"  *  Then  I,  and  you,  and  all  of  us  fell  down, 
Whilst  bloody  treason  flourish'd  over  us.' " 

Sumner,  on  his  part,  was  loyalty  itself  to  the 
man  with  whom,  as  he  testified,  his  relations 


200      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

"had  for  years  been  of  peculiar  intimacy.'' 
"  This  death,"  he  wrote  to  Longfellow,  when,  in 
France,  he  heard  of  Prescott's  end,  "touches 
me  much.  Perhaps  no  man,  so  much  in  peo 
ple's  mouths,  was  ever  the  subject  of  so  little 
unkindness.  Something  of  that  immunity  which 
he  enjoyed  in  life  must  be  referred  to  his 
beautiful  nature,  in  which  enmity  could  not 
live."  To  the  widow,  five  years  later,  Sumner 
wrote,  on  occasion  of  the  publication  of  Tick- 
nor's  "  Life  of  Prescott :  "  "  The  past  has  been 
revived.  ...  I  have  felt  keenly  how  much  I 
was  permitted  to  enjoy  and  how  much  I  have 
lost.  Those  evenings  in  the  darkened  room  in 
Bedford  Street,  with  the  kind,  sparkling,  in 
timate  talk  on  books,  history,  friends  abroad 
and  at  home;  the  pleasant  suppers  below, 
where  were  the  venerable  parents,  so  good  and 
cordial ;  then  as  I  became  absorbed  in  public 
affairs,  the  constant  friendship  which  we  main 
tained  ;  the  welcome  he  always  gave  me  on 
my  return  from  "Washington;  our  free  con 
versations  on  public  affairs  and  public  men ; 
and  perhaps  more  than  all  things  else  his 
tender  sympathy  as  he  sat  by  my  bedside, 


POLITICAL  SYMPATHIES  201 

revealing  how  his  heart  was  moved,  only  a 
short  time  before  the  summons  came  to  himself 
—  all  these  I  think  of,  and  in  selfish  sorrow  I 
grieve  that  he  is  gone." 

To  piece  out  the  account  of  Prescott's  polit 
ical  associations  and  gradual  change  of  view, 
the  testimony  of  his  private  secretary,  Mr. 
Robert  Carter,  may  be  cited.  Speaking  of  their 
first  acquaintance  (1847),  he  wrote,  "  He  was 
a  Conservative  Whig  as  I  a  Free  Soiler." 
But  he  adds, "  Ten  years  later,  I  had  the  plea 
sure  of  knowing  that  he  voted  for  Fremont  for 
President,  and  for  Burlingame  for  Congress, 
notwithstanding  his  high  personal  esteem  for 
his  friend  and  neighbor,  Mr.  Appleton,  the 
candidate  opposed  to  Burlingame."  It  would 
be  a  mistake  to  class  Prescott  among  abolition 
ists,  or  even  as  pronounced  against  the  aggres 
sions  of  slavery  ;  but  that  his  nature  did  not 
fail  to  thrill  under  the  indignities  heaped  upon 
the  free  North,  is  made  manifest  in  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  an  Englishwoman  in  1854 : — 

"  We  have  had  most  alarming  doings  here 
lately  in  the  fugitive  slave  line.  ...  A  regi 
ment  of  the  militia  was  called  out,  the  streets 


202       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

in  certain  quarters  were  closed  against  passen 
gers,  and  swords  and  muskets  were  flashing  in 
our  eyes  as  if  we  had  been  in  a  state  of  siege. 
"  I  am  rather  of  the  conservative  order,  you 
know,  but  I  assure  you  it  made  my  blood  boil 
to  see  the  good  town  placed  under  martial  law 
so  unceremoniously  for  no  other  purpose  than 
to  send  back  a  runaway  negro  to  his  master. 
It  is  a  disagreeable  business  at  any  time,  and 
it  was  only  a  strong  conviction  of  the  claims 
which  the  South  had  on  us  by  virtue  of  the 
Constitution,  which  made  us  one  nation,  that 
induced  our  people  to  sign  the  famous  Com 
promise  act  of  1850.  But  the  Nebraska  Bill 
looks  to  us  so  much  like  double  dealing  in  the 
matter  that  there  is  now  a  great  apathy  in 
regard  to  our  enforcing  our  own  part  of  the 
contract.  Then  the  thing  was  carried  here  with 
such  a  rash  hand.  The  town  was  turned  over  to 
the  military  by  the  mayor.  .  .  .  Every  petty 
captain  of  a  militia  corps  was  left  to  act  at 
his  own  discretion.  In  one  case  the  guns  were 
leveled  to  fire  on  the  multitude  without  any 
notice  to  warn  the  people  of  the  danger ;  and 
it  was  by  a  mere  accident  that  a  bloody  fray 


POLITICAL  SYMPATHIES  203 

did  not  take  place,  which,  if  once  begun,  would 
have  put  us  in  mourning  for  many  a  day.  Old 
Boston  has  rather  a  relish  for  rebellion,  and 
when  it  lay  in  the  path,  as  it  seemed  to  do 
here,  it  required  some  restraining  grace  not  to 
pick  it  up.  ...  I  am  told  the  government 
was  quite  willing  we  should  dip  our  fingers  in 
rebellion.  It  knows  it  cannot  have  any  sup 
port,  and  for  that  reason  would  be  very  glad 
to  put  us  in  the  wrong  with  the  rest  of  the 
country.  The  Nebraska  business  has  called  up 
a  feeling  which,  though  not  Free  Soil,  or  Aboli 
tionist,  is  so  near  akin  to  them  that  they  can 
all  work  in  the  same  harness." 

It  is,  in  truth,  in  Prescott's  English  corre 
spondence  that  we  find  the  workings  of  his 
mind  on  American  politics  most  clearly  re 
vealed.  At  one  time,  he  is  enlisting  the  sym 
pathies  and  receiving  the  contributions  of 
English  friends  in  behalf  of  a  slave  —  pre 
sumably  a  fugitive.  At  another,  he  is  discuss 
ing  with  the  Duke  of  Argyll  or  with  Lord 
Morpeth  the  fatal  drift  of  slavery  towards  the 
extinction  of  human  rights.  Not  immediately 
upon  these  themes,  but  on  others  which,  after 


204       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

all,  were  kindred  with  them,  a  couple  of  un 
published  letters  are  of  interest :  — 


TO   K.    C.   WINTHKOP 

May  30,  1847. 

Everything  has  gone  well  for  you  here,  no 
extra  session  of  Congress,  and  none  like  to  be. 
We  ride  on  conquering  and  to  conquer,  as  you 
see,  up  to  the  very  Halls  of  Montezuma,  and 
many,  I  should  think  from  the  positive  manner 
they  speak  of  them,  expect  to  find  the  palace 
of  the  old  Aztec  still  standing.  The  Mexicans 
have  missed  it  in  fighting  pitched  battles  in 
stead  of  trusting  to  a  guerilla  warfare.  My 
friend,  General  Miller,  who  has  much  expe 
rience  of  the  Spanish- American  character,  told 
me  that  the  guerilla  was  the  only  way  by 
which  they  could  fight  us  with  success ;  and  if 
they  pursued  that  system  they  would  be  invin 
cible.  They  may  trouble  us  yet  in  that  way ; 
but  the  capital  and  seaports  seem  destined  to 
come  into  our  hands.  But  what  shall  we  do 
with  them  ?  It  will  be  a  heavy  drag  on  our 
republican  car,  and  the  Creole  blood  will  not 
mix  well  with  the  Anglo-Saxon.  Then  there 


POLITICAL  SYMPATHIES  205 

will  be  the  slavery  question  as  a  firebrand 
which  will  keep  you  hot  enough  next  winter 
in  the  Capitol. 

TO   C.    CUSHING 

BOSTON,  April  3,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, —  I  should  sooner  have 
thanked  you  for  your  friendly  letter  from  the 
environs  of  Mexico.  You  are  in  a  position  for 
an  accurate  comprehension  of  my  narrative 
and  the  subject  of  it.  And  I  shall  be  very  glad 
if  the  result  does  not  lead  to  the  detection 
of  greater  inaccuracies  than  those  you  have 
pointed  out. 

You  have  closed  a  campaign  as  brilliant  as 
that  of  the  great  conquistador  himself,  though 
the  Spaniards  have  hardly  maintained  the  re 
putation  of  their  hardy  ancestors.  The  second 
conquest  would  seem  a  priori  to  be  a  matter 
of  as  much  difficulty  as  the  first,  considering 
the  higher  civilization  and  military  science  of 
the  races  who  now  occupy  the  country,  but  it 
has  not  proved  so,  —  and  my  readers,  I  am 
afraid,  will  think  I  have  been  bragging  too 
much  of  the  valor  of  the  old  Spaniard. 


206       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

I  hope  we  shall  profit  by  the  temporary  pos 
session  of  the  capital  to  discover  some  of  the 
Aztec  monuments  and  MSS.  The  Spanish  ar 
chives  everywhere,  both  public  and  those  be 
longing  to  private  families  in  Old  Spain  and 
in  the  colonies,  are  rich  in  MSS.,  which  are 
hoarded  up  from  the  eye  of  the  scholar  as  care 
fully  as  if  they  were  afraid  of  the  facts  coming 
to  light.  Of  late  these  collections  have  been 
somewhat  opened  in  the  Peninsula.  But  such 
repositories  must  exist  in  Mexico,  and  Senor 
Alaman,  formerly  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
has  communicated  some  to  me  and  made  liberal 
use  of  others  in  his  own  publications.  If  you 
meet  with  him  you  will  see  one  of  the  most 
accomplished  and  clever  men  in  Mexico.  But 
I  hear  he  was  in  disgrace  a  year  since  from 
his  royalist  predilections.  Could  you  oblige 
me  by  saying  to  him  if  you  meet  him,  that  I 
am  very  desirous  to  send  him  my  "  Conquest 
of  Peru,"  and  if  he  can  let  me  know  how  to 
do  so  I  shall  do  it  at  once  with  great  pleasure. 
Have  you  met  on  the  spot  any  of  the  Mexican 
translations  of  my  "Mexico"?  The  third  vol 
ume  of  one  of  them  contains  and  is  filled  with 


POLITICAL  SYMPATHIES  207 

engravings  taken  from  old  pictures  of  the  time 
of  the  Conquest,  at  least  so  it  purports.  This 
edition  alone  contains  also  some  very  learned 
and  well-considered  criticism  on  different  pas 
sages  of  the  work.  I  trust  that  your  military 
duties  and  dangers  are  now  at  an  end,  and 
that  Mexico  will  accept  our  propositions  for 
peace.  It  has  been  a  war  most  honorable  to 
our  arms,  as  all  must  admit,  whatever  we  may 
think  of  the  wisdom  of  the  counsels  that  rushed 
us  into  it. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
"PHILIP  II" 

"  You  have  had,"  wrote  Dean  Milman  to 
Prescott,  in  1852,  "I  will  not  say  the  good 
fortune,  rather  the  judgment  to  choose  noble 
subjects."  This  was  in  connection  with  a 
friendly  inquiry  how  Philip  II  was  getting  on. 
That  last,  and  as  it  proved,  unfinished  work, 
if  it  had  a  noble  subject,  was  the  occasion  of 
revealing  nobility  in  the  author.  As  the  "  Con 
quest  of  Peru  "  links  Prescott' s  name  with 
Markham,  the  "  Philip  II  "  does  with  Motley. 
The  story  is  well  known.  Motley  made  grate 
ful  public  acknowledgment  of  the  generous  en 
couragement  and  sympathy  which  he  received 
from  the  older  historian.  Going  to  him  with 
a  proposal  to  abandon  the  field  in  which  the 
younger  man  had  not  known  that  Prescott  was 
working,  the  beginner  was  rather  urged  warmly 
to  continue  his  own  researches,  and  was  offered 
every  aid,  including  the  loan  of  books  and 


PHILIP  II  209 

manuscripts,  within  the  power  of  the  writer  of 
established  reputation.  It  was  a  fine  example 
of  passing  on  the  torch  of  learning.  As  Mot 
ley  wrote  appreciatively  to  Prescott  from  Paris, 
in  1857,  it  was  only  a  proof  of  the  latter's 
"  untiring  benevolence."  He  had  previously 
written  from  Florence,  in  1855  :  — 

"  I  thank  you  very  much  for  your  very 
handsome  allusion  [in  the  Preface  to  "  Philip 
II "]  to  my  forthcoming  work  which  I  am  sure 
in  America  at  least  will  be  of  much  value  to 
me.  I  hope  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  read 
the  work  when  it  appears  (a  copy  will  of  course 
be  sent  you)  and  that  you  will  not  be  ashamed 
afterwards  of  having  complimented  me  on 
trust.  It  is  so  much  the  fashion  for  literary 
men  and  artists  generally  to  look  upon  any 
man  in  the  street  who  is  trying  to  get  into  the 
omnibus  as  an  intruder,  and  to  bully  him  with 
assurances  that  there  is  no  room  for  him,  that 
I  feel  most  sensibly  your  courtesy  in  trying  to 
make  a  place  for  me  at  your  side,  however,  un 
able  or  unworthy  I  may  be  of  your  kindness." 

Prescott  came  early  to  have  a  high  estimate 
of  Motley's  powers.  In  a  letter  to  Allibone, 


210       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

referring  to  one  "  whose  path  crosses  my  own 
historic  field,"  he  said,  "  I  can  honestly  bear 
my  testimony  to  the  extent  of  his  researches  ;  " 
and  added,  with  a  touch  of  genuine  criticism, 
"  every  page  is  instinct  with  the  love  of  free 
dom."  One  recalls  Motley's  letter  to  his  father, 
expressing  the  patriotic  satisfaction  it  gave 
him  to  "pitch  into  the  Duke  of  Alva  and 
Philip  Second  to  my  heart's  content."  Two 
such  differing  natures  as  Prescott's  and 
Motley's  excellently  illustrate  the  personal 
equation  in  the  writing  as  well  as  the  reading 
of  history.  Dr.  Holmes  observed  :  "  Those 
who  have  known  Motley  and  Prescott  would 
feel  sure  beforehand  that  the  impulsive  nature 
of  the  one  and  the  judicial  serenity  of  the  other 
would  as  surely  betray  themselves  in  their  writ 
ings  as  in  their  conversation  and  in  their  every 
movement."  Motley  himself  shrewdly  remarked 
on  this  diversity  of  temperament  in  writing  to 
Prescott  about  the  first  volume  of  "Philip 
II:"- 

"  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  suc 
cess  of  the  work  and  that  it  will  stand  as  high 
as  (or  even  higher  than)  any  of  your  other 


PHILIP  II  211 

histories.  I  can  vouch  for  its  extraordinary 
accuracy  both  of  narration  and  of  portrait 
painting.  You  do  not  look  at  people  or  events 
from  my  point  of  view,  but  I  am  therefore  a 
better  witness  as  to  your  fairness  and  clearness 
of  delineation  and  statement.  You  have  by 
nature  the  judicial  mind,  which  is  the  costume 
de  rigueur  of  all  historians.  Non  equidem 
invideo  miror  magis  —  for  I  have  n  't  the 
least  of  it  —  I  am  always  in  a  passion  when  I 
write  and  so  shall  be  accused  —  very  justly 
perhaps  —  of  the  qualities  for  which  Byron 
commended  Mitford,  'wrath  and  partiality.' 
Thus  far  you  are  very  just  to  my  idol,  Wil 
liam  the  Silent,  a  man  whom  it  has  been  the 
fashion  for  Catholic  and  Calvinist  canters  to 
blacken  for  three  centuries.  Pray  don't  rely, 
by  the  way,  too  much  on  Groen  van  Prin- 
sterer's  good  opinion  of  Philip  II.  He  is  more 
of  a  Jesuit  than  Father  Strada,  and  a  Cal 
vinist  monk  is  the  most  mischievous  of  all. 
Cucullus  non  facit,  etc.  I  allude  of  course 
to  his  opinion  of  Philip  himself  —  not  your 
history  of  him,  which  I  feel  sure  that  he  will 
appreciate  as  highly  as  it  deserves.  I  earnestly 


212       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

hope  that  you  will  have  plenty  of  time  and 
health  and  eyesight  to  go  on  with  the  succeed 
ing  volumes  of  your  history,  and  do  not  doubt 
that  they  will  be  a?  brilliant  and  as  masterly 
as  these  two.  No  one  will  welcome  the  follow 
ing  ones  more  than  I  shall  do." 

Professor  Allen  of  Wisconsin  University 
thought  that  Prescott  was  somewhat  "  lacking 
in  indignation."  He  could  not  rival  Motley 
in  pitching  into  Philip.  His  own  Philip  was 
voted  by  Sir  William  Stirling-Maxwell  to  be, 
so  Motley  wrote  to  his  wife,  "  altogether  too 
mild  and  flattered  a  portraiture  of  that  odious 
personage."  On  the  other  hand,  Prescott 
thought  Motley  too  hard  on  Philip.  This  ap 
pears  in  the  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  author 
of  the  "  Dutch  Republic  "  in  April,  1856  :  — 

BOSTON,  April  28,  1856. 

MY  DEAK  MOTLEY,  —  I  am  much  obliged 
to  you  for  the  copy  of  the  "  History  of  the 
Dutch  Republic  "  which  you  have  been  so  kind 
as  to  send  me.  A  work  of  that  kind  is  not 
to  be  run  through  in  a  few  days,  particularly 
by  one  who  does  his  reading  chiefly  through 


PHILIP  II  213 

his  ears.  I  shall  take  my  own  time  therefore 
for  going  thoroughly  through  the  book,  which 
I  certainly  shall  do  from  beginning  to  end, 
notes  inclusive.  Meantime  I  have  yielded  to 
my  impatience  of  seeing  what  sort  of  stuff  it 
is  made  of  by  pitching  here  and  there  into 
various  places,  particularly  those  with  which 
I  am  most  familiar  myself  and  which  would 
be  most  likely  to  try  your  power  as  a  writer. 
The  result  of  a  considerable  amount  of  read 
ing  in  this  way  has  satisfied  me  that  you 
have  more  than  fulfilled  the  prediction  which 
I  had  made  respecting  your  labors  to  the  pub 
lic.  Everywhere  you  seem  to  have  gone  into 
the  subject  with  a  scholar-like  thoroughness 
of  research,  furnishing  me  on  my  own  beaten 
track  with  a  quantity  of  new  facts  and  views, 
which  I  was  not  aware  it  could  present  to 
the  reader.  In  one  passage  I  remember,  the 
sack  of  St.  Quentin,  you  give  a  variety  of 
startling  and  very  interesting  particulars,  and 
when  I  envied  you  the  resources  at  your  com 
mand  for  supplying  them  to  you,  I  found  they 
were  all  got  from  a  number  of  the  "  Docu- 
inentos  Ineditos"  which  slept  harmlessly  on 


214       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

my  shelves  from  my  own  unconsciousness  that 
it  contained  anything  germane  to  the  mat 
ter.  Your  descriptions  are  everywhere  graphic 
and  picturesque.  One  familiar  with  your  ro 
mances  will  not  be  surprised  at  your  powers 
in  this  way.  But  yet,  after  all,  the  style  for 
history  is  as  different  from  what  is  required 
for  romance  as  that  of  a  great  historical  picture 
is  from  a  scene  painting  for  a  theatre.  You 
prove  that  you  possess  both.  Your  portraiture 
of  character  is  vigorous  and  animated,  full  of 
characteristic  touches,  from  a  pencil  that  is 
dipped  in  the  colors  of  the  old  masters. 

You  have  laid  it  on  Philip  rather  hard. 
Indeed  you  have  whittled  him  down  to  such 
an  imperceptible  point  that  there  is  hardly 
enough  of  him  left  to  hang  a  newspaper  para 
graph  on,  much  less  five  or  six  volumes  of  solid 
history,  as  I  propose  to  do.  But  then  you 
make  it  up  with  your  own  hero,  William  of 
Orange,  and  I  comfort  myself  with  the  reflec 
tion  that  you  are  looking  through  a  pair  of 
Dutch  spectacles  after  all.  As  to  the  back 
bone  of  the  work,  the  unfolding  of  the  great 
revolution,  I  am  not  in  a  condition  to  criticise 


PHILIP   II  215 

that,  as  no  one  can  be  who  has  not  read  the 
work  carefully  through.  But  I  have  conversed 
with  several,  not  merely  your  personal  friends, 
who  have  done  so,  and  they  bear  emphatic 
testimony  to  the  power  you  have  exhibited,  in 
presenting  the  subject  in  an  original  and 
piquant  way  to  the  reader.  Indeed  you  have 
seen  enough  of  criticism,  probably,  from  the 
presses  of  this  country  and  of  England,  to  sat 
isfy  you  that  the  book  has  made  a  strong 
impression  upon  the  public  mind  and  that  it 
must  be  entirely  successful.  There  is  one  little 
matter  which  I  have  heard  quarreled  with,  and 
which  I  must  say  I  think  is  a  mistake,  but 
which  relates  to  the  form  not  to  the  fonds  of 
the  work  —  that  is,  the  headings  of  the  chap 
ters  and  the  running  titles  of  the  pages.  They 
are  so  contrived  as  to  show  the  author's  wit, 
but  nothing  of  the  contents  of  the  book,  and 
have  the  disadvantage  of  giving  a  romantic 
air  which  is  out  of  place  in  history. 

But  this  sort  of  criticism  you  may  very 
well  think  is  like  praising  one  for  his  intellec 
tual,  his  moral  [qualities],  and  all  that,  and 
then  taking  exception  to  the  cut  of  his  waist- 


216       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

coat.  You  have  good  reason  to  be  pleased  with 
the  reception  the  book  has  had  from  the  Eng 
lish  press,  considering  that  you  had  no  one 
particularly  to  stand  godfather  to  your  bant 
ling,  but  that  it  tumbled  into  the  world  almost 
without  the  aid  of  a  midwife.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  success  is  a  great  triumph.  .  .  . 

With  my  kindest  regards  to  your  wife,  be 
lieve  me,  dear  Motley, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

WM.  H.  PRESCOTT. 

Like  all  Prescott's  histories,  "Philip  II" 
was  long  meditated.  As  early  as  December  6, 
1845,  his  journal  betrays  incidentally  where 
his  thoughts  were  turning.  "  I  have  the  great 
reign  of  Philip  the  Prudent  to  prosecute." 
This  was  while  the  "  Conquest  of  Peru  "  was 
still  in  hand,  and  was  adduced  as  one  spur 
more  to  press  him  on  to  its  conclusion.  Later 
entries  yield  glimpses  of  the  progress  of  the 
work :  - 

March  1,  1848.  ..."  Being  thus  relieved 
of  all  further  solicitude  in  respect  to  the  suc 
cess  of  my  last  historical  bantling,  what  re- 


PHILIP  II  217 

mained  for  me  but  to  turn  at  once  to  my  rich 
mine  of  < Philip  II'?"  .  .  . 

May  20,  1848.  «  Kead  carefully  Ticknor's 
MS. 4  History  of  Spanish  Literature'  —  a  most 
thorough,  scholar-like  performance  and  impor 
tant  contribution  to  letters.  Read  also  —  i.  e. 
listened  to  —  an  ocean  of  newspapers  —  the 
staple  of  the  day  —  the  age  of  revolutions. 
What  next?"  .  .  . 

September  9,  1848.  « [Pepperell.]  Now 
cannot  I  Philippize  in  these  shades  ?  "  .  .  . 

October  27,  1848.  "  The  last  three  weeks 
have  been  lounging  through  the  purlieus  of 
my  subject.  Is  it  to  be  mine  ?  "  .  .  . 

February  15, 1849.  "  I  must  economize  time 
by  taking  only  the  best  authorities  and  the 
MSS.  The  last  I  must  approfondir  —  the  true 
ammunition  for  the  historian  to  fight  his  paper 
battles  with.  ...  If  I  do  not  make  sensible 
progress,  I  shall  have  no  heart  to  go  on  at 
all.  After  skimming  along  on  a  railroad  as 
I  did  in  '  Peru,'  how  can  I  feel  enthusiasm 
when  limping  like  a  blind  beggar  on  foot?  I 
must  make  my  brains  —  somehow  or  other  — 
save  my  eyes  and  my  time  too."  .  .  . 


218       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

September  2,  1849.  "  Never  so  happy  as 
when  fairly  under  weigh  in  composing.  .  .  . 
One  great  drag  on  me  is  the  pain  writing 
occasions  in  the  urethra,  etc.  .  .  .  But  pa- 
zienza  —  I  must  learn  that  at  least  from  my 
Spaniard." 

November  25,  1849.  "  Mem.  Whining 
about  my  troubles  unmans  me,  and  is  of  itself 
the  worst  augury.  Making  light  of  these  — 
quiet  energy,  justifiable  self-reliance,  cheerful 
views  of  life  are  the  best  guarantees  of  success 
as  I  have  hitherto  succeeded.  I  will" 

September  14,  1851.  "I  have  no  right  at 
fifty -five  to  say  solve  senescentem  equum.  I 
have  still  a  course  to  run  over,  and  a  good 
plate  to  win  .  .  .  even  though  I  have  a  touch 
of  the  blind  staggers."  .  .  . 

October  14,  1851.  "  I  now  enter  on  ... 
the  story  of  the  Netherlands,  —  a  fit  subject 
for  an  independent  history,  as  Motley  will 
show  the  world  before  my  limping  volumes 
come  out."  .  .  . 

July  4,  1852.  "Letter  just  received  from 
Bentley  begs  me  to  fix  a  time  for  its  [my  work] 
publication,  but  I  cannot  consent  to  become 


PHILIP  II  219 

the  slave  of  the  lamp  —  and  of  the  publishers  — 
as  that  would  make  me."  .  .  . 

"  Left  Nahant  Sept.  6th,  and  came  to  the 
Highlands  September  9,  full  of  good  intent. 
Delicious  solitudes  ;  safe  even  from  friends  — 
for  a  time  !  Xow  for  the  Spanish  battle-cry, 
*  St.  Jago,  and  at  them  !'"... 

December  4,  1852.  "  St.  Jago  has  not  done 
much  for  me  after  all.  The  gods  won't  help 
those  that  won't  help  themselves.  I  have  daw 
dled  away  my  summer,  and  have  only  to  show 
for  it  Chapter  XII,  thirty-five  pages  of  text, 
and  four  pages  of  notes.  Fie  on  it !  I  am  now 
well  read  up  for  Chapter  XIII,  and  —  I  mean 
to  have  a  conscience  and  reform.  "V^Te  left  Pep- 
perell  for  town,  Oct.  26th."  .  .  . 

February  2,  1853.    "  The  reign  of  terror  - 
I  must  not  go  to  sleep  over  it  —  nor  let  my 
readers."  .  .  . 

March  20,  1853.  "  The  last  week  revived 
the  industry  of  the  Peruvian  —  the  golden 
age."  .  .  . 

July  30, 1853.  "  Yesterday  fell  asleep  while 
Kirk  read  it  [Chapter  XVIII]  to  me  for  cor 
rections.  A  good  omen  for  my  readers.  .  .  . 


220       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Now  for  that  exacting  old  dame,  the  Muse  of 
History  —  who  will  not  go  halves  with  any 
body." 

The  question  of  foreign  copyright  assumed 
some  importance  for  Prescott  on  the  eve  of 
publishing  his  "  Philip  II."  Motley,  discuss 
ing  with  his  father  the  wisdom  of  taking  out  an 
English  copyright,  wrote  that,  "  It  may  be 
well  for  Mr.  Prescott  to  do  so,  as  he  can  sell 
his  books  for  £1000  a  volume  or  more."  On 
September  14,  1851,  Prescott  noted:  "The 
late  decision  in  favor  of  foreign  copyright  ap 
peals  to  my  avarice,  if  my  ambition  should  go 
to  sleep  ;  for  it  will  put  some  thousands  into 
my  pocket."  But  later  this  hope  was  dashed, 
and  he  wrote  :  — 

August  22, 1854.  "  In  May,  an  English  pub 
lisher,  Routledge,  made  me  the  offer  of  £1 000 
a  volume  for  as  many  volumes,  not  exceeding 
six,  as  I  should  write  of  « Philip  II  •'  in  case  I 
could  give  him  a  good  copyright ;  that  is,  if 
the  case  before  the  House  of  Lords  on  appeal 
should  be  decided  in  favor  of  foreigners.  If 
decided  against  them,  he  agreed  to  pay  me 
£500  a  volume  for  these  two  first  volumes,  and 


PHILIP  II  221 

<£250  for  each  of  the  following — for  the  ad 
vance  sheets  —  I  was  to  be  allowed  to  propose 
these  terms  to  Bentley  —  first,  which  I  did,  and 
they  were  at  once  accepted.  The  late  decision 
in  the  House  of  Lords  has  gone  against  the 
right  of  foreigners,  and  all  my  dreams  of  copy 
right  and  all  the  title  by  which  Bentley  has 
hitherto  had  an  exclusive  copyright  in  my 
books  have  vanished  into  air.  The  sum,  how 
ever,  I  am  to  receive  for  priority  of  publication 
is  more  in  the  case  of  the  two  first  volumes 
than  he  paid  me  for  the  copyright  of  the  two 
volumes  of  '  Peru.'  ...  I  have  quitted  the  Har 
pers,  and  entered  into  a  contract  with  the  house 
of  Phillips,  Sampson  &  Co.  of  Boston.  I  have 
left  the  Harpers  not  from  any  dissatisfaction 
with  them,  for  they  have  dealt  well  by  me  from 
the  first  to  the  last,  but  because  they  were  not 
prepared  to  come  up  to  the  liberal  offer  made 
by  the  other  party.  We  part,  therefore,  with 
the  same  good  understanding  in  which  we  have 
always  kept  together.  ...  I  am  to  receive 
$6000  for  each  of  the  vols.  of  that  work. 
.  .  .  Also  agree  to  pay  me  $6000  a  year  for 
six  consecutive  years  for  the  right  to  publish 


222      WILLIAM  HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

3000  copies  of  each  of  my  former  historical 
works." 

The  first  two  volumes  of  "  Philip  II "  were 
completed  on  August  22,  1854.  On  that  date 
we  find  the  customary  Laus  Deo  in  the  jour 
nal.  The  composition,  Prescott  notes,  had  oc 
cupied  him  about  five  years.  "  I  thought  of 
calling  the  work  Memoirs,  and  treating  the 
subject  in  a  more  desultory  and  superficial 
manner  than  belongs  to  a  regular  history.  I 
did  not  go  to  work  in  a  businesslike  style  till 
I  broke  ground  on  the  troubles  of  the  Nether 
lands.  Perhaps  my  critics  may  find  this  out." 
The  usual  task  of  revision  and  printing  kept 
him  busy  for  a  year  more.  "  Nothing  remains 
now  but  to  correct  the  earlier  portions  of  the 
work,  especially  those  relating  to  Charles  the 
Fifth,  in  which  all  my  new  things  have  been 
forestalled  since  I  began  to  write  by  Mignet, 
Stirling,  etc.,  —  a  warning  to  procrastinating 
historians."  The  volumes  were  published  in 
November,  1855.  The  result  was  a  renewal 
and  even  enlargement  of  former  successes.  His 
own  record,  six  months  after  publication,  best 
tells  the  story  :  — - 


PHILIP  II  223 

"A  settlement  made  with  my  publishers 
here  last  week  enables  me  to  speak  of  the  suc 
cess  of  the  work.  In  England  it  has  been  pub 
lished  in  four  separate  editions ;  one  of  them 
from  the  rival  house  of  Routledge.  It  has  been 
twice  reprinted  in  Germany,  and  a  Spanish 
translation  of  it  is  now  in  course  of  publica* 
tion  at  Madrid.  In  this  country  eight  thou 
sand  copies  have  been  sold,  while  the  sales  of 
the  preceding  works  have  been  so  much  im 
proved  by  the  impulse  received  from  this,  that 
nearly"thirty  thousand  volumes  of  them  have 
been  disposed  of  by  my  Boston  publishers, 
from  whom  I  have  received  seventeen  thou 
sand  dollars  for  the  'Philip'  and  the  other 
works  the  last  six  months.  So  much  for  the 
lucre ! 

"  From  the  tone  of  the  foreign  journals  and 
those  of  my  own  country,  it  would  seem  that 
the  work  has  found  quite  as  much  favor  as  any 
of  its  predecessors,  and,  as  the  sales  have  been 
much  greater  than  of  any  other  of  them  in 
the  same  space  of  time,  I  may  be  considered  to 
have  as  favorable  a  breeze  to  carry  me  forward 
on  my  long  voyage  as  I  could  desire.  This  is 


224      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

very  important  to  me,  as  I  felt  a  little  nervous 
in  regard  to  the  reception  of  the  work,  after 
so  long  an  interval  since  the  preceding  one 
had  appeared." 

Intercalated  between  the  first  two  volumes 
and  the  third  of  "  Philip  II "  came  Prescott's 
continuation  of  Robertson's  "  Charles  the 
Fifth."  This  was  a  sort  of  compromise.  Pres- 
cott  had  been  urged  to  undertake  an  entire 
work  of  his  own  on  the  reign  of  Charles.  But 
his  mind  was  filled  with  Philip ;  he  did  not  de 
sire  to  seem  to  be  supplanting  Eobertson ;  and 
so  he  pitched  upon  a  new  conclusion  of  the  lat- 
ter's  work,  bringing  it  into  harmony  with  the 
latest  researches  and  at  the  same  time  furnish 
ing  an  introduction  to  his  own  volumes  on 
Philip.  This  labor  he  went  through  with  his 
habitual  fidelity,  spending  more  than  a  year  on 
the  hundred  and  eighty  pages.  To  Ticknor  he 
wrote  on  December  8,  1856  :  — 

"My  <  Charles  the  Fifth,'  or  rather  Robert 
son's,  with  my  Continuation,  made  his  bow  to 
the  public  to-day,  like  a  strapping  giant  with 
a  little  urchin  holding  on  to  the  tail  of  his  coat. 
I  can't  say  I  expect  much  from  it,  as  the  best 


PHILIP  II  225 

and  biggest  part  is  somewhat  of  the  oldest. 
But  people  who  like  a  complete  series  will 
need  it  to  fill  up  the  gap  betwixt  4  Ferdinand ' 
and  « Philip.' " 

An  extract  or  two  from  his  diary  may  be 
appended :  — 

August  6,  1855.  "  I  am  getting  rather  an 
ambling  gait  —  as  the  papers  called  my  gait 
in  the  streets  —  not  even  the  butter-woman's 
trot  to  market.  Fie  on  it !  "  .  .  . 

October  28, 1855.  "  Boston  is  not  Pepperell. 
The  first  day  I  dined  with  a  large  party.  The 
second,  at  the  theatre  with  Mile.  Rachel  till 
midnight.  This  is  not  the  way  they  lived  at 
Yuste."  .  .  . 

June  4, 1857.  "  Rebellion  of  the  Moriscoes, 
making  in  all  289  pages  —  more  than  half  a 
volume  !  As  bad  as  Macaulay  —  without  his 
merits  to  redeem  it."  .  .  . 

June  16,  1857.  "Finished  Battle  of  Le- 
panto.  I  hope  it  will  smell  of  the  ocean."  .  .  . 

September  27,  1857.  "  The  subject  will  be 
a  hard  one.  For  it  is  easier  to  discuss  battles 
than  politics." 

"  Philip  II  "  brought  Prescott  a  full  chorus 


226       WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

of  praise.  He  was  most  touched,  as  before,  by 
the  appreciation  of  foreign  scholars.  Hallam 
and  Milman  and  Macaulay  sent  warm  congrat 
ulations.  Sumner  wrote  from  Aix-les-Bains  : — 

September  15,  1858. 

.  .  .  One  day  as  I  was  halting  through  the 
street  I  observed  a  Frenchman  busily  occupied, 
as  he  walked,  with  a  book  which  I  recognized 
at  once  as  one  of  your  volumes.  You  know  I 
am  far-sighted,  and  easily  recognize  a  friend. 
That  incident  made  my  walk  pleasant,  and  I 
forgot  my  hurts. 

From  Castle  Howard,  his  friend,  Lord  Car 
lisle,  wrote :  — 

September  13,  1858. 

.  .  .  You  are  a  brave  fellow  to  stick  to  Philip, 
and  I  rejoice  on  every  account  to  hear  of  such 
being  your  intention.  I  have  had  much  plea 
sure  this  year  in  making  Mr.  Motley's  acquaint 
ance,  but  I  wish  to  ask  you  confidentially 
whether  you  think  he  has  been  poaching  at  all 
on  your  manor  ? 


PHILIP  II  227 

The  best  answer  to  this  question,  and  the 
best  way  of  closing  a  chapter  in  which,  both 
at  the  end  and  the  beginning,  Motley's  name 
should  go  with  Prescott's,  is  to  quote  the 
explanation  which  the  author  of  the  "  Dutch 
Republic  "  gave  to  his  father :  — 

VEVEY,  March  3,  1855. 

We  [Prescott  and  Motley]  had  a  perfect 
understanding  about  our  respective  plans  be 
fore  I  went  away.  I  remember  that  he  thought 
that  it  might  be  better  if  we  should  arrange  to 
publish  at  somewhat  different  times,  as  the 
works  are  a  good  deal  upon  the  same  subject. 
As  this  is  a  consideration,  however,  which  only 
affects  me,  as  my  work  can't  interfere  with  the 
sale  of  his,  I  have  never  thought  it  a  matter 
of  great  consequence,  particularly  as  I  don't 
know,  and  never  shall  know,  when  I  ought  to 
publish.  .  .  . 

Philip  the  Second,  although  he  is,  of  course, 
the  Deus  ex  macJiina  in  much  of  my  present 
work,  is  not  my  head  devil. 

I  still  mean  to  write  to  Mr.  Prescott,  but  I 
thought  I  would  send  him  this  message  through 


228       WILLIAM  H1CKL1NG  PRESCOTT 

you,  for  I  would  not  have  him  think  me  forget 
ful  of  the  many  acts  of  kindness  and  friend 
ship  which  I  have  received  at  his  hands,  and 
it  is  possible  that  he  might  wish  to  hear  my 
plans. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  UNFINISHED  WINDOW 

OPENING,  in  1858,  a  new  volume  of  the  journal 
which  he  had  kept  for  more  than  forty  years, 
Prescott  wrote  on  the  inside  of  the  cover, 
"Literary  Memorandum  Book  No  XIV- 
and,  as  I  eschew  long  entries,  probably  the 
last."  Less  than  three  pages  were  actually 
written.  The  last  entry  of  all  was  this :  — 

Pepperell,  October  28.  "  Return  to  town 
to-morrow.  The  country  is  now  in  its  splendid 
autumn  robe,  somewhat  torn,  however,  and 
draggled  by  the  rain.  Have  been  occupied 
with  corrections  and  additions  to  my '  Mexico/ 
On  my  return  to  Boston  shall  resume  my 
labors  on  '  Philip,'  and,  if  my  health  continues 
as  good  as  it  has  been  this  summer,  shall  hope 
to  make  some  progress.  But  I  shall  not  press 
matters.  Our  mllegiatura  has  been  bright 
ened  by  the  presence  of  all  the  children  and 
grandchildren,  God  bless  them  !  And  now  we 
scatter  again,  but  not  far  apart." 


230      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

Prescott  always  labored  under  a  physical 
handicap.  In  addition  to  his  major  disability, 
rheumatism  seldom  left  off  plaguing  him.  But 
there  was,  as  an  intimate  friend  noted,  "a 
stoical  element"  in  this  gentle  and  smiling 
man,  and  he  could  whip  a  reluctant  body  along. 
A  persistent  local  pain  compelled  him  at  one 
period  to  do  a  good  deal  of  writing  in  a  kneel 
ing  posture.  The  first  really  serious  warning, 
however,  came  to  him  on  February  4,  1858, 
when  he  suffered  a  slight  stroke  of  apoplexy. 
He  lost  the  power  of  speech  for  a  time,  and 
partly  lost  consciousness.  His  first  articulate 
words  disclosed  the  self -forgetful  man  :  "  My 
poor  wife !  I  am  so  sorry  for  you,  that  this 
has  come  upon  you  so  soon  !  "  But  the  attack 
passed  off,  and  his  strength  slowly  returned. 
His  own  record  of  the  affair  was  under  date  of 
April  18,  and  was  as  follows:  — 

"On  the  4th  of  February  I  had  a  slight 
apoplectic  shock,  which  affected  both  sight 
and  power  of  motion,  the  last  but  for  a  few 
moments. 

"  The  attack  —  so  unexpected,  though  I  had 
been  troubled  with  headaches  through  the 


THE   UNFINISHED   WINDOW          231 

winter,  in  a  less  degree,  however,  than  in  the 
preceding  year  —  caused  great  alarm  to  my 
friends  at  first.  Much  reason  have  I  to  be 
grateful  that  the  effects  have  gradually  disap 
peared,  and  left  no  traces  now,  except  a  slight 
obscurity  in  the  vision,  and  a  certain  degree  of 
weakness,  which  may  perhaps  be  imputable  to 
my  change  of  diet.  For  I  have  been  obliged 
to  exchange  my  carnivorous  propensities  for 
those  of  a  more  innocent  and  primitive  nature, 
picking  up  my  fare  as  our  good  parents  did 
before  the  fall.  In  this  way  it  is  thought  I 
may  defy  the  foul  fiend  for  the  future.  But  I 
must  not  make  too  heavy  or  long  demands  on 
the  cranium,  and  if  I  can  get  three  or  four 
hours'  work  on  my  historic  ground  in  a  day,  I 
must  be  content  .  .  .  With  prudence  and  the 
blessing  of  Heaven  I  may  hope  still  to  be  in  at 
the  death  of  Philip,  though  it  may  be  some 
years  later  than  I  had  expected." 

The  rest  of  his  life  was  passed  in  some 
thing  of  a  shadow,  though  he  never  lost  his 
light  vivacity.  How  he  could  jest  at  his  own 
wounds  appears  in  this  extract  from  a  letter  to 
his  friend  of  many  years,  Madame  Calderon. 


232       WILLIAM  HICKLING   PRESCOTT 

Writing  from  Lynn  on  September  7, 1858,  lie 
said :  — 

"  For  myself,  I  have  been  very  well  of  late, 
though,  during  the  last  winter,  in  February,  I 
experienced,  what  was  little  expected,  an  apo 
plectic  attack.  It  alarmed  my  friends  a  good 
deal,  and  frightened  me  out  of  my  wits  for  a 
time.  But  the  effects  have  gradually  passed 
off,  leaving  me  only  a  slight  increase  of  the 
obscurity  in  my  vision.  As  I  don't  intend  the 
foul  fiend  shall  return  again,  I  live  upon  vege 
tables  and  farinaceous  matter,  like  the  ancho 
rites  of  old.  For  your  apoplexy  is  a  danger 
ous  fellow,  who  lives  upon  good  cheer,  fat  and 
red-faced  gentlemen,  who  feed  upon  something 
better  than  beets  and  carrots.  I  don't  care 
about  the  fare,  but  I  should  be  sorry  not  to 
give  the  last  touches  to  '  Philip  the  Prudent,' 
and  to  leave  him  in  the  world  in  a  dismembered 
condition  !  " 

To  his  daughter-in-law  he  wrote  in  comic 
deprecation  of  his  vegetarian  regimen ;  one 
recalls  Tennyson  on  FitzGerald's  fare :  — 

"I  must  expect  a  little  debility,  as  they 
have  brought  me  to  an  anchorite  diet  of  vege- 


THE  UNFINISHED   WINDOW          233 

tables  and  the  running  brook,  and  I  feel  as 
light  as  air.  These  are  not  to  be  despised,  are 
they  ?  And  I  expect  to  become  quite  an  epi 
cure  in  spinach  and  potatoes.  Nothing  can 
exceed  the  bounty  of  my  friends  who  send  me 
all  kinds  of  slops  and  hasty  puddings,  and  vol 
umes  of  receipts  for  different  sorts  of  dainties 
in  this  way.  I  had  no  idea  of  the  wealth  of 
the  vegetable  kingdom." 

With  slackened,  though  never  abandoned, 
researches  in  preparation  for  another  volume 
on  "  Philip  II,"  but  with  lowered  vitality,  he 
entered  upon  1859.  The  closest  observation 
foresaw  no  collapse.  Ticknor,  who,  in  1855, 
had  predicted  that  Prescott  had  "20  good  years 
of  work  in  him  at  59,"  wrote  to  Hon.  Edward 
Twistleton,  on  January  18,  1859,  "Prescott 
is  looking  as  well  as  ever,  and  his  constitution 
has  accommodated  itself  with  wonderful  alac 
rity  to  the  vegetable  diet  prescribed  for  him 
eleven  months  ago."  Yet  the  end  was  but  ten 
days  away.  On  January  28,  parting  with  his 
wife  in  merry  laughter,  he  went  into  his  study. 
The  blow  fell  swiftly ;  he  was  heard  groaning ; 
was  found  absolutely  unconscious ;  and  died  in 


234      WILLIAM  HICKLING  PRESCOTT 

a  few  hours.  As  grieving  Motley  wrote,  "  The 
night  of  time  had  suddenly  descended  upon  the 
unfinished  peristyle  of  a  stately  and  beautiful 
temple." 

Before  burial,  the  body  of  Prescott  was 
taken,  in  accordance  with  a  request  he  had 
made,  to  lie  for  a  time  in  his  library.  The  best 
of  all  ages  looked  down  upon  him  from  their 
books;  but  not  one  of  those  "lettered  dead" 
was  manlier  or  purer  than  he.  "  All  who  knew 
him,"  said  George  Bancroft,  "will  say  that 
he  was  greater  and  better  than  his  writings. 
Standing  by  his  grave,  we  cannot  recall  any 
thing  in  his  manner,  his  character,  his  endow 
ments,  or  his  conduct  we  could  wish  changed." 


INDEX 


INDEX 


ASPINWALL,  COLONEL,  letter 
to,  25. 

Bancroft,  George,  letter  from, 
129;  reports  English  opin 
ion,  146 ;  on  Prescott's  char 
acter,  234. 

Bancroft,  H.  H.,  estimate  of 
"  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  143. 

Brown,  Charles  Brockden, 
Life  of,  70. 

Carlisle,  Lord,  letter  from, 
226. 

Carter,  Robert,  Prescott's 
secretary,  35,  37,  201. 

Club-Room,  59-63. 

"  Conquest  of  Mexico  "  :  first 
conception  of,  132  ;  Irving 
surrenders  topic,  133-135; 
record  of  work  on,  135, 136 ; 
W.  H.  P.'s  comments  on, 
137-139 ;  pecuniary  results, 
140,  141 ;  viewed  in  modern 
light,  142 ;  H.  H.  Bancroft's 
estimate  of,  143. 

"  Conquest  of  Peru  " :  rapidly 
written,  152;  "second- 
rate  "  subject,  154 ;  pub 
lished,  156 ;  bookselling 
details,  156,  157;  C.  R. 
Markham's  verdict  on,  158. 

Curtis,  G.  T.,  characterizes 
Prescott,  173. 

Cushing,  C.,  letter  to,  205. 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  supposes 
W.  H.  P.  blind,  20;  ad 
miration  for  Prescott,  110 ; 
letter  from,  111 ;  extract  of 
letter  from,  140. 


Eliot,  Samuel,  on   Prescott, 

176  seq. 

Everett,  A.  H.,  letter  to,  30. 
Everett,  Edward,  letter  from, 

25. 

Felton,  Professor  C.  C.,  on 
Prescott's  simplicity,  178. 

"  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  "  : 
first  germ  of,  77  ;  choice  of, 
78 ;  ten  years'  labor,  81, 84  ; 
finished,  84 ;  motives  for 
publishing,  84,  85  ;  W.  H. 
P.'s  reflections  on,  85,  86; 
published  in  Boston,  88 ; 
published  in  London,  89; 
pecuniary  results,  90-95 ; 
criticisms  of,  96-98  ;  Euro 
pean  recognition,  103,  104 ; 
writes  abridgment  of,  140. 

Ford,  Richard,  suggests  Span 
ish  History,  81;  reviews 
"  Ferdinand  and  Isabella," 
in  " ;  Quarterly,"  114. 

Frothingham,  Rev.  N.  L.,  on 
W.  H.  P.'s  eyesight,  38. 

Gardiner,  Rev.  Dr.,  W.  H. 
P.'s  teacher,  17. 

Gardiner,  W.  H.,  on  Pres 
cott's  social  manner,  174- 
176. 

Gayangos,  P.,  32. 

Griswold,  R.  W.,  letters  to, 
2,  19  ;  sketch  of  W.  H.  P., 
36. 

Haliburton,     R.     G.,    letter 

from,  159. 
Hallam,  Henry,  letter  from, 

105. 


238 


INDEX 


Hillard,  George,  23. 
Holmes,  O.  W.,  on  Prescott 

and  Motley,  210. 
Humboldt,     A.     von,    sends 

greetings  to  W.  H.  P.,  113  ; 

message  of  approval  from, 

145  ;  letter  from,  149, 

Irving,  W.,  surrenders  Mexi 
can  theme  to  W.  H.  P., 
133-135;  estimate  of  P.'s 
"  Conquest  of  Mexico,"  148. 

Kohl,  J.  G.,  impression  of 
Prescott,  119- 

Lieber,  Francis,  transmits 
praise  from  Humboldt,  145. 

Louisiana,  W.  H.  P.  urged  to 
write  history  of,  82. 

Mark  ham,  Clements  R.,  let 
ter  from,  157 ;  verdict  on 
"  Conquest  of  Peru,"  158. 

Milman,  Dean,  on  Prescott's 
"  noble  subjects,"  208. 

Motley,  J.  L.,  compliment 
from,  32  ;  acknowledges  in 
debtedness  to  W.  H.  P.. 
209;  praises  "  Philip  II,'* 
210;  letter  to,  212;  under 
standing  with  Prescott,  227. 

Pepperell,  first  acquired  by 
Prescott  family,  6  ;  W.  H. 
P.'s  life  at,  176  seq. 

"Philip  II,"  208;  first  con 
ception  of,  216  ;  question  of 
foreign  copyright,  220  ;  pub 
lished,  222 ;  reception  and 
sales,  223. 

Pickering,  John,  memoir  of. 
70,  72. 

Prescott,  Judge,  6-10. 

"Prescott  Memorial,"  2. 

Prescott,  William  Hickling: 
genealogy,  2-7;  sketch  of 
his  father,  8-10;  his  mother, 
11-14;  birth,  15;  boyhood 
at  Salem,  16,  17;  schooling 


at  Boston,  17,  18;  reading 
in  Athenaeum,  18 ;  enters 
Harvard,  19 ;  record  of  col 
lege  reading,  20 ;  graduates, 
21 ;  family  room  at  Har 
vard,  22 ;  loss  of  eye,  23, 
24 ;  condition  of  eyesight, 
26-29  ;  employs  secretaries, 
33;  his  noctograph,  33-35; 
averse  to  dictation,  37  ;  trip 
to  Azores,  39 ;  first  letters 
and  journals,  41 ;  travels  in 
England,  France,  and  Italy, 
42 ;  habits  of  self-inspec 
tion,  42,  46  ;  moral  self-idis- 
cipline,  46,  47 ;  plans  wide 
reading,  49 ;  critiques,  not 
extracts,  51,  52;  French, 
Italian,  and  Spanish  stud 
ies,  53,  54 ;  bent  toward 
history,  55 ;  marriage  to 
Susan  Amory,  57 ;  writes  for 
' '  North  American  Review, ' ' 
63,  64;  review  of  Lock- 
hart's  "Scott,"  68;  essay 
on  Cervantes,  69 ;  influ 
enced  by  Gibbon's  autobi 
ography,  73;  contemplates 
Roman  history,  76 ;  con 
templates  Italian  literature, 
77 ;  contemplates  English 
literature,  79;  difficulties 
and  discouragements,  88 ; 
secrecy  of  literary  plans, 
100 ;  scrutinizes  his  own 
style,  114-116;  burden  of 
letter-writing,  118;  enter 
tains  foreigners,  119  ;  beset 
by  literary  aspirants,  120- 
126;  contemplates  life  of 
Moliere,  131 ;  member  of 
learned  societies,  105,  150 ; 
esteemed  in  Spain,  148  ;  un 
spoiled  by  praise,  151 ;  vis 
its  England,  160 ;  Stirling's 
account  of  success  in  Eng 
lish  society,  168-171  ;  per 
sonal  traits,  172  seq. ;  life 
at  Pepperell,  1 7<>  seq. ;  com 
panion  of  children,  179 ; 


INDEX 


239 


active  philanthropy,  184; 
homes  in  Boston,  186 ; 
home  at  Nahant,  187 ; 
habits  of  exercise,  188  ;  won 
derful  memory,  189 ;  work 
ing  under  wager,  191 ;  his 
children,  194 ;  religious 
views,  195  ;  political  sym 
pathies,  197 ;  relations  with 
Sumner,  198-201 ;  views 
about  slavery,  201-204 ; 
writes  continuation  of  Rob 
ertson's  "Charles  V,"  224; 
stroke  of  apoplexy,  230 ; 
death,  233. 

Scott,  General,  offers  papers 
for  history  of  second  Mexi 
can  Conquest,  82,  83. 

Sparks,  Jared,  letter  from, 
71. 

Stirling,  Sir  William :  his  "  In 
Memoriam"  in  "Eraser," 
114  ;  account  of  W.  H.  P.'s 
success  in  English  society, 
168-171. 

Stuart,  Professor  Moses,  pro 


poses  to  W.  H.  P.  an  Ameri 
can  theme,  82. 

Sumner,  Charles  :  purveyor  of 
European  praise,  107-109 ; 
on  Prescott's  boyish  spirits, 
178;  relations  with  Pres- 
cott,  198-201 ;  letter  from, 
226. 

Thackeray,  W.  M. :  relations 
with  Prescott,  1. 

Thierry,  Augustin,  letter  to, 
28. 

Ticknor,  George :  Prescott 
reads  his  "  Spanish  Litera 
ture  "  in  MS.,  217 ;  letter  to, 
224  ;  on  Prescott  at  the  age 
of  fifty-nine,  233. 

Von  Raumer  sends  Hum- 
boldt's  greeting,  113. 

Walker,  President:  a  class 
mate  of  W.  H.  P.,  16. 

Winthrop,  Robert  C.,  reports 
W.  H.  P.'s  fame  in  France, 
146  ;  letter  to,  204. 


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